Second Song, The Epic of Remnant
by 0-Tengatsu-0
Summary: So, Salem's gone. That's pretty cool. I mean, the heroes win, everyone goes home and has a happily every after. No? Oh, more bad guys to deal with. That kinda sucks. Oh well, even with all the threats out there in the world, assuming they're anything like their parents, the future should be in safe hands. Right?... Right? (Future/After Salem AU)
1. Prologue

**Heeeello everyone! So in lieu of my severe writer's block, I've come up with another story concept probably in the shortest period of time ever... and would you believe it, it's actually really fleshed out. I know the entire 'Second Generation' trope for RWBY is commonplace... but I've decided that with a bit of extra inspiration from other series, something as simple as RWBY's kids could be waaay more entertaining. Anyway, this is a shot in a dark, but some I'm really confident in. Welcome to the Pilot Chapter of Second Song! **

**(Sept 4th Edit)**** In the case that you haven't realised, the story's undergone a name-change. I've honestly felt really iffy about a name like The World's Strongest was always a bit... amateurish. As such, The name of the story from now on is Second Song. Simply because the name is far simpler, and a bit more eye-catching. (Plus it sounds cooler ;p) Anyway, enjoy!**

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**Second Song**

**Chapter 0 **

**The end of the beginning...**

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**Ruby Rose**

My name is Ruby Rose. I'm a Huntress, someone meant to fight off the Grimm and uphold humanity, and one of the last Silver-eyed Warriors, my eyes the literal bane of darkness. Despite all of this, I was losing. Blood streamed from the cut on my forehead, forcing me to blink and back up, staying defensive with Crescent Rose while also trying to regain all the stamina that I lost. "What's wrong? All that talk, and now you can't fight back!" Salem jeered, slashing with her giant pitch-black Greatsword, chopping into my ribs and nearly tearing through my aura, sending me crashing into a giant dust-shard. I spat blood right into her face as she charged at me and causing her to flinch. I screamed as soon as I saw the opening, swinging Crescent Rose with everything I had. All she did was dodge, almost bored, and I was only able to scrape her armor at best. "Far too weak!" Her hand curled as black flame coalesced into it, and on instinct I summoned the power of my eyes to try and counter it. The next thing I knew was the flat of her giant blade cracking onto my temple, my vision flashing white as I numbly felt my body tumble across the ground. '_Sh-she used it as a feint and only made me waste more energy!_' I realized as soon as I was lucid. I tried to get up, but pain raced throughout my entire body.

"Daughter of Summer..." she sighed as she casually walked towards me, her armored boots stomping with a menacing ***CLANK*** sound, "You disappoint me. Though you have better control of the Silver Eyes than most, you are still no match for me." I growled and tried to get up before her foot slammed into my chin, my ears ringing as I fell to the floor on my back limply. Her heel slowly dug into my chest, the metal boot crushing the air from my lungs, ribs creaking and straining as I started to suffocate. "You will die as you have lived: unable to stop me. I will have the powers to rival even the strongest in all the cosmos..." she leaned down, smiling lightly at me as I tried to pull her foot off of me. "And I thank you for that." She brought her heel up and stomped back down faster than I could blink, a sharp ***_CRACK_*** echoing through the wasteland. I screamed, the sensation of hot lava curling around my chest. It's kind of funny actually, the pain woke me the hell up and gave me a second wind. My eyes burned as silver aura exploded from them, Salem caught right in the middle of it as she tried to shield herself with her sword.

She went flying back, crashing into a stone hill before she freed herself, parts of her skin burnt and steaming. '_Don't know how long this is gonna last, so I'll give this everything I have!_' I wrapped my Scythe in Silver aura, the entire weapon shining like a star as I blasted right at Salem. "I won't lose!" I roared, my entire body moving on its own as I spun Crescent Rose faster than I could have ever thought before, rose petals dancing through the air as I finally slashed at her chest, the metal of her black armor screeching and tearing as soon as the silver aura touched it. "I can't! Because of you, we lost too many of those close to us. Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, my mom... I'm betting my life on everything here and now, for the sacrifices that they made!" Her arms worked furiously, the greatsword screaming through the air almost faster than I could keep up and even getting some clean slashes on me. "Make all the speeches you want Rose, you're _still_ helpless before me." She replied with a smirk, ducking under one of my wild swings and launching her fist right into my ribs. The searing pain made me even madder but drained even more energy from me, my body hunching over.

She raised her blade to cleave me in half, and when I tried to dodge, my body locked up in pain. '_No, not like this! Move, dammit!_' I screamed to myself as it descended. "**You will not arrive at the reality that will occur!**" A familiar voice echoed, and all of a sudden I found myself a distance away from Salem, my ribs almost magically back in place. I was still dead tired, but not to the point where I was going to pass out. Which meant... "Oscar!" He landed right next to me, green aura warping and shifting as he looked at me with that same boyish smile. "Hey Ruby, sorry I'm late to the party." I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him and kissing him. He held me back tightly, and I didn't want to let go. "**_Ozpin_**." Salem snarled, black aura roiling around her in response to her rage. "No. I'm not Ozpin, or Ozma, or anyone else." His hand around my waist glowed with his emerald aura, my wounds and fatigue disappearing by the second.

"I'm my own person, Oscar Pine. All I thought I ever wanted was a normal life... but if it weren't for this fate, I would have never met a whole new family. If it weren't for this..." He looked at me with a bright smile that made me blush and giggle a bit. "I would have never met this amazing girl." His gazed hardened as he stared at Salem, the witch actually flinching. "I won't let you take that away from me!"

"You say that it's fate for us to lose. We'll show you what it means to break past fate!" I roared, the Silver-Eye power exploding around me while Oscar's own aura seemed to warp and tear the air itself. Salem had regained her posture as her own body exploded with the full power of all four maidens, the once colorful energy marked with black. "**I'll put you to rest, for good this time!**"

**(Que music: Dragon Ball Super OST, The power to Resist)**

We immediately shot right at each other, weapons raised and voices roaring as we clashed, Oscar's cane and my Scythe against Salem's blade with a deafening ***BOOM***, the ground shattering beneath us. He spun rapidly and fired his weapon right into Salem's face, the witch barely able to dodge as it scraped past her cheek. I quickly shifted my Scythe into it's dormant form and unleashed a semblance-fueled barrage of punches that caught her cleanly across the face. She flew back, slashing with her Greatsword and forcing Oscar to block while I vaulted over with a quick kick off the air. I tried to hit her again with a rush of stomps but she was quick to use a wall of nearly impenetrable ice that appeared out of thin air. Instinct screamed in me, and I leaped away as her blade cleaved right up through the ice. Oscar shot in and let his semblance burst, her actions rewinding to the point where her hand was up, primed to conjure the ice-wall. His aura-wreathed cane whacked her across the face hard, surprise and pain on her face before she blasted him back with gale-force winds, slamming him into the ground with enough force to make a crater.

I whipped Crescent Rose around to deflect a slash aimed at Oscar's head, following up with another array of slashes and spins to keep her off of him. She still managed to close the distance as soon as I was open and lashed out with a flaming gauntlet to the face. I felt my cheekbone crack, but I grit my teeth and shot my foot into her face with the full force of my semblance, her head snapping back in a burst of rose-petals. Massive tendrils of tree-roots exploded from the ground and nearly wrapped around me had it not been for the quick swings of my Scythe. Oscar stepped in as I freed myself, aura spiraling around his cane as he thrust it forward with all his might. With that pitch-black armor on, her strength, speed and reaction-time were insane: she caught the cane with her bare hand, the end of it going straight through her palm in a burst of black blood, but it never hit any vital part of her. Her fist closed around it and she forcibly twisted it out of the way, ramming her fist wreathed in pitch-black aura into his chest. He vomited blood and bile but stood his ground, stomping on her foot in an attempt to trap her. "That's the best idea you ha-!?"

Blasting forward, I pulled the trigger and shot her point blank in the chest, the armor groaning as the silver-clad bullet went through far enough to touch her. She winced in surprice and I unleashed everything I had into one downward strike. There was a deafening shriek as Crescent Rose ripped through the plating on her shoulder, biting into flesh and bone with a sickening *_**SQUELCH**_* that spewed blood. It never went deeper than her collarbone, and she only grinned savagely before the air around us exploded with flame. I felt my skin sear, even with my aura, but most importantly we couldn't breathe. '_She burned the damn oxygen!_' I thought, nearly panicking again. "**Return to zero!**" Oscar shouted hoarsely, and everything seemed to rewind again, right back to the point where my scythe was about to bury itself into her shoulder and air magically back in my lungs. Quickly twisting, the edge instead sliced clean through her left arm. She looked at it in shock, and the moment cost her as Oscar rained down blow after blow with speed nearly equal to my own, the armor caving in forcibly enough to break bones and pierce skin.

The giant sword in her hand suddenly turned pitch-black, morphing into a wicked curved blade that aimed right for my neck. Oscar's cane seemed to move on its own, perfectly blocking it and leaving her open again as his foot whipped into her side. He suddenly roared in pain as her sword phased through his cane and sliced into his chest, flinging him him backwards. Again I felt something snap in me as I saw his blood fly into the air, and I screamed as Silver aura exploded from my body. Finally, the armor she wore gave way and tore apart, the magic properties of it leaking away. Raw pain seemed to course through her and she fell to a knee, blood streaming from her mouth. "I will not fall to you!" She shouted, her wounds closing in the blink of an eye, faster than I could attack her. '_Dammit, all the damage undone!_' I thought, before I remembered something, pressing my assault even harder, every swing and slash powered by my semblance, my weapon a whirling ring of light. '_...She's immortal, and can't be killed. But she feels pain, and can grow tired._' I was proven right: the armor she was wearing didn't necessarily make her stronger, it just allowed her to fight without feeling any physical ailment like fatigue, pain, and maybe even sickness. But without it, she was feeling every torn muscle, every wasted bit of energy, all the overuse of magic on her body.

The threw her arm forward, black lightning shooting out of her hand and racing for my face. '_Fast, but predictable._' She was laboring for breath, her movements sloppy and wilder. Still didn't change the fact that she was the most dangerous being in the entire planet. The ground beside me burst with a column of burning stone and my hands moved on their own, slicing and breaking through them as fast as I could. It was only after a moment I realized what she did: I was surrounded by the floating debris, all of them suddenly shooting right at me. I panicked and let my aura flare, pushing a few of the lighter ones away but still being struck by the majority. My cheek throbbed in pain as one burst on my face, vision going white for a moment before I felt a cold hand wrap around my throat, picking me up effortlessly and slamming me into the ground headfirst. I tried to right back but my head swam, and I couldn't control my limbs. 'Great, I have a concussion,' I thought giddily. Oscar was struggling to stand up, coughing blood as the cut across his chest turned black, dark tendrils pinning him. He stretched out his hand and tried to use his semblance to return our actions to zero, but the wound she inflicted on him prevented it.

'_Oh, so we might actually die here. Damn._' I thought with a small sigh as she wordlessly conjured a blade made from black ice, pointing it right at my chest. As she stabbed down, a pitch-black glyph stopped it an inch away from my chest, both of our eyebrows raising. "**Get the hell off of my sister!**" A voice roared, the area bathed in a harsh golden light before a fist suddenly slammed into her face in an explosion of yellow fire. She was flung back like a rag-doll before countless Summoning Glyphs surrounded her, firing massive blades right into her at a rapid pace. I strand of golden hair tickled my nose and I arched my head back, looking at Yang's tired grin. She had a few bruises and her lip was busted, but honestly not too bad. "Hey sis, lookin a bit grounded there. Need a hand?" She asked cheekily, taking off her prosthetic and literally holding it out for me. "Yang, I swear to God that when this is done, I'm going to club you over the head with your own arm." She laughed and hauled me up before I felt warmth seep into my body, the wounds and fatigue rapidly disappearing as my aura suddenly seemed to swell.

"Thank you Jaune," I said with a relieved smile, the other blonde returning it tiredly. "Already healed Oscar up as well. Blake and Weiss are up there buying us some time to come up with a plan." Looking up quickly, I saw that Weiss herself was now dashing in between her glyphs, coated in the armor of her Summon while Blake seemed to suddenly pop up from the smallest shadows on Salem's body, biting into her skin at unexpected angles with Adam Taurus' old blade. Salem was already drawing on her magic to help her recover even while she was being torn apart by the nonstop assault. Soon, she'd be recovering faster than they could damage her, then defending faster, and then countering faster. "I honestly think that we should just throw everything at her," I thought after a moment. "We'll wear her down to the point where she's too exhausted to use magic. Whenever we see an opening, we hit her and hit her hard, we can't give her even a moment to recover." I turned to Oscar and Jaune, "But the best shot we have at destroying her is with _you_ guys. Jaune still has more than enough aura, so I'm gonna need you to do something crazy with Oscar." Both of them looked ready to leap into action, admittedly making me grin a bit. "As soon as we have her locked down, I need you to pump your semblance into Oscar as hard as you can."

Everyone looked at me with a raised eyebrow, Oscar turning red and Jaune coughing into his hand. It took me a moment to realize what I said before I stuttered, "N-no, that's not what I-! Ugh, you guys are filthy!" I sighed, getting a few chuckles from everyone. "Anyway, you know what I'm getting at right?" Everyone turned serious and nodded, weapons ready. "Alright then, let's go!" Yang vaulted into the air and launched off of Jaune's shield, fist cocked back as her prosthetic glowed brightly and her aura around her formed into the shape of a dragon, fangs bared and roaring. Weiss leaped back to give her an opening while Blake stopped her from countering, her fist exploding into her stomach. Salem stood her ground despite the fact that Yang's fist went straight through her body and out of her spine like wet paper, grabbing Yang by the face and slamming her into the floor, freezing her in place. Blake never missed a beat, leaping out of her shadow and rapidly slashing for her neck. Salem blocked it with more ice, but it left her open as Weiss dashed in from the side skewering her through the lungs. She choked for a moment and they went right back to work, raining attack after attack on her. I saw the pitch-black flame that was beginning to form in her hand and immediately flared my Silver Eyes, her body locking up again as veins burst across her neck and forehead.

"**DAMN YOU BRATS**!" She bellowed, forcing her body to move. Her hands quickly shot up as Weiss and Blake attacked, their blades going right through her palms before stopping dead in their tracks. She clenched her fists and yanked them right into each other, Weiss' armor clanging loudly on Blake's forehead. Her blade ripped through the air towards Blake's neck, but Yang and Jaune were already there, his shield flaring brightly and Yang launching her boot into her shoulder. Jaune slashed with all his might while Weiss struck with her Summoned Greatsword, an explosion of aura blasting her backwards. Blake had already dived into her shadow, suddenly leaping out and stabbing Wilt right through her stomach, stopping her dead. "Ruby-!" She tried to call, but ended up with a backfist to the mouth for that, bypassing her aura and splitting her lip in a small spray of blood. "Blake!" Yang screamed, her aura violently burning around her as it formed the shape of a dragon once more. She shot forward, the stone under her feet shattering as she raced through the air right at her. Salem blasted Blake away in a gout of flame but Oscar had already maneuvered around to her blind spot, launching her airborne, helpless as Yang reached her.

"**Dragonfist: EXPLOSION!**" She roared, the aura-dragon growing twice its size as it ripped into Salem, the force of the blow _literally_ tearing her in half. Still she didn't give up, screaming wildly as a dome of raw power surrounded her, random bolts of fire, ice, wind, stone and even raw magic shooting wildly through the air. Jaune and Weiss teamed up, forming a massive black glyph on top of Jaune's Auric Shield that protected almost everyone from the assault, Yang still suspended in the air but just managing to deflect most of them with a rush of punches. "I can't hold this much longer, and Salem's already regenerating!" Weiss cried out, straining as her Glyph began to crack. "Then don't!" Oscar shouted, crouching and pouring aura into his legs. "Launch me and Ruby up! Jaune, let your shield down as soon as I tell you!"

He nodded, but as soon as Weiss let go of her glyph, Jaune's body strained as he fought against the onslaught, his own shield beginning to dent. "NOW!" Oscar yelled, both of us shooting straight up with help from my semblance. We were still hit by a couple of projectiles, one of them scraping my forehead and nearly blinding me, but we barreled right through and shattered her protective dome. She had already been fully healed, and was waiting for us: she clenched her fist and punched Crescent Rose's blade away as I swung for her neck, kicking Oscar's cane out of the way. Black tendrils of dark magic grabbed Oscar, Yang as I and began to squeeze tightly. Oscar's ribs gave way quickly, another loud ***_POP_*** as it snapped. '_What is it with this woman and breaking ribs!?_' Yang punched straight down with her free arm, obliterating her tendril and firing a blast of aura at Oscar's, letting him fall right into Blake's arms.

"No matter," She snarled, whipping around to me and slamming a rock-encased fist into my jaw. My body locked up and went limp, even as I screamed at myself to move. The stone turned into that same pitch-black magic, forming into a blade that ran up Salem's arm before she pointed it at me. "**Excalibur!**" I heard Jaune roar behind me, a massive wave of light descending on us and crashing into her head while leaving me untouched. She screamed in pain as the wave continued to push her down all the way down into the ground with a burst of destruction. "JAUNE, OSCAR, DO IT NOW!" I shouted as I kicked off the air and rocketed right down at Salem. The moment she tried to move, I poured everything I had into my Silver Eyes, blasting her with as much power as I could no matter how much it hurt. Salem tried to force herself up, but Blake was already in her shadow, trapping her to the floor before hundreds of black spikes erupted from with her body with a cry of "**Blighted Nightshade!**". _Still_ she struggled despite the agony she was in, nearly making it to her feet. "**Gate of Babylon!**" Weiss shouted, hundreds of summoning Glyphs opening around Salem before firing _countless_ swords and weapons, every single one of them piercing her without touching me or Blake. "**Sunlight Spirit-Bomb!**" Yang roared, a ball of condensed aura the size of a bus thrown right on top of Salem's head with a deafening explosion. Jaune had finally touched down next to Oscar, placing his hand on his back before his body glowed pale white.

Oscar's aura seemed to quadruple and size, cracking the floor beneath him and tearing the air apart as he lifted an open palm right at her. "**The power of the maidens within you: return to zero!**" His aura surrounded her and she gasped as four orbs of red, yellow, blue and green light popped out of her chest, all of them shooting right into him. He gasped for a moment as his power nearly exploded, Jaune barely managing to keep his focus. "**The curse of immortality: RETURN TO ZERO!**" Her pale skin suddenly turned to a normal shade of tan, her power suddenly vanishing and she _finally_ collapsed onto her back, the soft thud seeming to echo throughout the land.

**(Music End)**

'_We won._'

Everyone besides Oscar fell to their knees, gasping for air as our exhaustion finally caught up to us, Blake barely managing to scramble away. Oscar, brimming with untold, unmatched power, calmly walked towards the fallen body of the now human Salem, the final dregs of her magic just barely healing her most fatal wounds... or at least some of them. "D... damn it all..." She said, weeping and frustrated before he coughed up a good chunk of blood. Oscar knelt in front of her, a genuine look of pity on his face. "...I'm really sorry that it had to end this way." She ground her bloody teeth for a moment before she relaxed, too weak to put up any form of resistance. She smiled after a moment, a gentle hand on his face. "You sly dog, Ozma," She chuckled, "Taking away my pain so I pass away peacefully? Even if you're a completely different person, you never really change... thank you." He started to suddenly cry, tears falling free to his surprise. "See?" She chuckled, playfully pinching his nose. Her eyes suddenly went wide and she roughly grabbed his collar, shocking us with the genuine fear on her face. "Ozma. Whatever you do, avoid all contact with the gods. Do not do _anything_ to attract them, or you will bring _horrors_ unlike anything I or even the Brothers could have ever been! There's a reason why I kept the ones with silver eyes to such a small amount, and it-!" She coughed again, more blood flowing from her wounds. "It isn't just because of the maiden's weakness to it!" She looked wildly to me, stretching out a hand, and faster than I could react, a small black bolt of lightning hit me head on. "RUBY!" Everyone shouted as I landed hard on my back, confused. '_It... didn't hurt?_' Oscar was already beside me, frantically checking me before I waved him off "I'm fine, I'm fine! It didn't hurt..." Everyone turned to Salem, confused as the light started to fade from her eyes. "That... is the last of my... power. Your next of... kin... will need it."

She looked to the sky, relaxing once more. "Now... I can finally die... Protect this world... and beware..." She looked like she was about to say something else, but after one final breath, her heart stopped. Salem was dead... Three years. We've been fighting this war for three years, and now it's over. I didn't care about her vague warning, nobody did. We only felt complete relief.

"...so you guys wanna get some shawarma?" Yang asked after a moment. I promptly picked up the nearest chunk of stone and beaned Yang in the boob with it. "OW! What the hell Ruby!?" She shrieked with laughter, clutching her chest. We all burst into nearly hysterical laughter, Jaune and I actually crying a bit. "Seriously, I think that we could all use a hot meal right now," Oscar sighed, his stomach growling. I embraced him and pressed head into his chest, muttering "I actually agree with that." I could feel his smile as he lightly pecked me on my head. "Let's go home everyone!" As we all walked away, happy beyond belief, it's only now that I realize something.

We should have listened.

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**A.N: Aaaand that's a wrap! Hope you guys enjoyed the pilot chapter, please let me know if you like what you see, and peace out everyone!**


	2. Chapter W

**Hey guys, welcome to chapter two! For anyone who's a regular on my other stories, I'm gonna be posting three more chapters after this one as a kind of Prologue to the story. After that, it's back to the regular schedule! (Not gonna mention that I'm having a _severe_ writer's block on both of them) So enjoy!**

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**Second Song**

**Chapter W **

**The son of a frigid winter!**

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**Wolfram V. Schnee**

"... and so Mrs, Schnee, sales, customer satisfaction, and employee care is still on the rise across all of the Atlas-Branch mines." I rolled my eyes and smirked as soon as I saw mom close her eyes, gently breathing out of her nose. '_You shouldn't have lied,_' I thought with a small grin, idly flicking my white ponytail out of my face. When she opened her eyes, her glare cut into the head of the Atlesian Branch, the poor man flinching. "... You are aware of whom you are talking to, yes?" She asked quietly. He stammered, fumbling for a response, "W-why of course! You are the head of the company-!" She held up a hand, immediately silencing him as he shook in pure terror. "Then you _should_ know what I am capable of. Did you honestly think that you could get away with underpaying the Faunus workers, supply them with cheap and faulty equipment, and _get away_ with lying to my _face_?"

"H-how did you-?"

"I happened to pay a visit there. It isn't particularly hard to disguise myself as someone else and waltz in. And what I did see was you _continuing_ to break my strict policy." She turned to me and I smirked at him, whipping out my scroll and putting up a chart. "Your actions as of late have increased the number of Chaos Insurgency members, the new ones mostly Faunus of course. As such, not only have you threatened the face of the Schnee Dust Company, but you have also further jeopardized the world. It is quite disappointing to know that the only reason you've been doing this is not out of necessity but out of greed." He was turning redder as each word exited my mouth, clearly displeased at the idea of a kid like me lecturing him. "N-now listen here brat! Everything I do is for the sake of the Schnee Dust Company, and if those Faunus rats must be worked to death for it, then so be-!" Mom shot right up out of her seat, her body crackling with icy-blue aura as she briskly walked towards him, everyone else diving beneath the table as raw fear overtook them. "Faunus rats?" She spat at him, the poor man falling on his ass and scooting all the way back to the glass wall overlooking Atlas. "Do you forget that I just so happen to be business partners and good friends with High-Leader Belladonna? Did you _forget_ that our top policy across all our branches is equality among all workers, _regardless_ of gender and race?"

She leaned in close, their noses almost touching as raw fury oozed from her. "People like you are a threat to the peace that my comrades and I have worked so hard for, for _your_ sake. What what do you do? You toss it aside **for the sake of profit!**" She roared, the room itself shaking. He cowered and hid his face behind his hands before she suddenly straightened his, her face completely serene. "You're fired," She said casually, grabbing him by the collar and tossing his sorry ass out of the window in a crash of glass. Everyone looked horrified as he plummeted, screaming all the way down. Walking next to mom, I looked down and raised a brow. "Hey, that's a bit far down..."

"Give it a moment."

"...mom, he's getting closer to the ground."

"Almost there," she sighed, waiting five more seconds. Her hand quickly shot out, an array of glyphs forming a slide that let him land safely (but roughly, considering the speed he was going at). With every bit of poise and calmness that completely betrayed the fact that my mom just tossed a man out of a window, she turned around and smiled politely to everyone. "Well, as of now I will be temporarily in charge of the Atlas Branch, seeing as Mr. Goud has recently... dropped out. Any objections?" They frantically shook their heads, a smart move. "Excellent! However, I have a task for all of you. Ensure that within the next thirty days, each one of you must give me a report on at least one potential candidate to lead the Atlas Branch. I of course will be looking for some myself, so do not worry about doing all the work. Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen, this has been a very productive meeting and aside from _one_ of you," She said, her tone darkening as she looked out of the window. "You have all done a tremendous job in _each_ of your respective branches. For that, I thank you, and I will show my thanks but giving everyone one extra half-month long vacation." Despite the horror of someone being bodily thrown from a hundred-story tall building, everyone seemed rather happy. "I hope you have a pleasant day, and you are all dismissed. Work diligently everyone!"

When everyone filed out of the office, we both looked at each other and burst into laughter. "Holy crap mom, you waited that long to save his ass?" I asked with a grin. She smirked back, her hair whipping slightly in the chilly wind. "As much as I dislike using strength when unnecessary... it's honestly pleasing at times." Her face suddenly turned worried and her eyes dipped down in a bit of shame and embarrassment. I sighed and smiled, putting a hand on mom's head. "You're fine mom," I chuckled, "He was lying to your face and was a threat to the business. I'm honestly surprised you aren't even madder." She sighed and walked out of the room, and I followed her. "Mom, seriously, don't be upset about using your position when you need to-"

"I simply don't want to turn into my father," She sighed worriedly, biting her nail. "You don't deserve that."

I laughed softly and hugged her. "Mom, you're _nothing_ like grandpa, so don't worry. I'm not gonna be turning into him anytime soon." She breathed again, managing to calm herself. "I should hope so... I find that I'm a bit tense," She said with a gleam in her eye. "And I believe that today is the big day of your exam." I grinned and raised an eyebrow at her. "You think so? I think that the testing-room is currently open, since you're so eager to let off some steam." Mom rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the eager smile on her face, and nor could I.

**(Thirty minutes later...)**

I quickly slung on my jacket, pulling on the straps on both sides. Liquid-like metal suddenly began to envelop my body as I activated my semblance, wrapping around my arms and torso first before traveling down my legs and eventually wrapping my hands and feet. "I still don't quite understand how you managed to create something that complicated," Mom said as she flourished her Rapier, "Nano-machinery isn't exactly something you can reliably control yet, even if you're as smart as you are. Why not go for a more reliable set of solid armour?" I grinned as I pulsed my aura through it, the amplifiers inside of the suit causing my aura to literally double in size and density, the sky-blue nodes glowing brightly against the silver of the rest of the suit. "I built this thing myself with my own hands and from my own mind! I make no mistakes, especially when it comes to something I excel at. I'll show you just what this armour can do, and that's without my sword!" Finally, the nanites formed a solid metal mask around my head, clamping down as my personal HUD popped up.

**Que Music: [Touhou]- Utsuho's Theme: Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom - Nuclear Fusion ~ 4ºRemix**

Concentrating aura at the soles of my feet, I blasted off right at mom with a rocket-powered punch. She was quick to whip her sword up and deflect my initial attack, but I didn't stop there as I pressed my offense. I stayed in close, using a quick array of strikes that forced her to back away and try get some range. The moment she tried to backstep, I channeled my aura through the nanobots and formed a large arm-blade, edged with hard-light dust as I shot my hand straight forward at her face. Again she twisted her head to the side, doing the same parrying move, and I grinned wider. '_Now!_' A burst of energy from the bottom of my boot propelled my foot into a whirling roundhouse-kick, the full weight of the suit behind my strike. Mom didn't flinch or retreat: a black glyph opened up on her side and stopped my attack dead in its tracks, a glyph-wreathed Myrtenaster flashing through the air as it shot right into my chest. Even with the Centurion Suit's ability to negate damage and kinetic force, her one attack blasted right through my defenses, knocking the air out of my lungs and sending me tumbling back.

I barely righted myself and she was already back on me, blade poised to strike. I quickly pulsed aura through my suit again, activating the hard-light around it, shielding me from her next strike that sheared through the barrier. "My turn!" I shouted as both of my arms formed short blades, slashing across her torso and trusting for her stomach. She just managed to block them, but that put her well in my own range. Quickly shifting the nanites on my arms, I pointed my open palm right at her and poured aura into it, blasting her with raw dust energy. She was blasted back like a rag doll, but before I could chase after her, I felt every bone in my body nearly wrenched to the floor. Glancing down, I saw the pitch black glyph with hints of gravity dust holding me down. Even my suit was slowly starting to crumble off, the nanites slowly being crushed by the weight even with my semblance on full tilt.

Mom didn't stop there a dozen glyphs opening up in the air around me. '_She's going to blitz me from my blindspots, so first she'll strike..._' She shot through the air and disappeared from my field of view. '_Behind me_!' I quickly formed a shield on my back just as she slashed at it, pumping as much aura into my arm as I could muster and swinging to grab her wrist. Her surprise forced her to let go of the gravity-trap, and I used that to my advantage, nanites clamping around her wrist. I pivoted and used her weight against her, slamming her into the floor with a ***THUD***, my free hand forming a massive flat surface, like the head of a hammer. '_The impact should concuss her, finish this quickly!_' I shot my fist down, only to be met with a resounding ***_CLANG_***, the nanites vibrating to dispel as much of the impact as possible. A dozen glyphs opened up right in front of my face and I quickly retreated, my HUD flashing as blades of shining-blue aura shot out of them right for me. I crossed my arms in front of my body, forming a large shield that barely managed to ward them off, more than a couple piercing my shield and nearly tearing through my armour.

When I found my balance, my mouth dropped open as I saw mom stand up, shrouded in the glowing armour of a knight. "M-mom, are you-!?" She simply smirked, pride and joy in her eyes. "Looks like I'm going to have to stop coddling you," She said with a smile. "Show me how you fare against a _real_ opponent!" My heart soared with pride, I was finally, _finally_ able to make my mother get serious in a fight with me. Dust exhausts opened up on the back of my suit and I blasted forward, meeting mom's charge with my own, forming another thick melee arm and slamming with with all my might into her rapier. The ground cracked beneath us as we continued to push, and I constantly shifted my weight to tray and get her to open a gap in her defence, keeping my own eyes alert as she attempted to do the same. "Thrusters, Full Power!" Both of us nearly had whiplash as the wind-dust worked on overdrive to propel me forward. "_Balance disrupted in lower appendages, sweep recommended,_" the automatic voice in my HUD stated.

'_Didn't have to tell me twice,_' I thought with a grin, lashing my leg out and flinging her airborne. "Repulsor-palms, FULL POWER!" I roared, blasting her with a mix of aura and light-dust. Even if it was point blank, she tanked it without flinching and retaliated back, _fifty_ glyphs opening up around me and my HUD practically screaming with warning signals. "Shit," I sighed as mom shouted "Gate of Babylon!" Keeping my calm as best as I could, I fired my semblance off on full-tilt while also trying to dodge as many of the blades as I could, warping my armour with my semblance to make small shields or thicken to plating. Even still, mom had precise control of what glyph fired when, and she was able to score multiple slashes and pierces through the thinnest parts of my suit. It hurt like hell, but I just couldn't stop grinning underneath my helmet. Even if mom has complete control over every glyph, she still needs a establish a rhythm... one that I was starting to pick up on. "Your time of judgement is here and now! I've told you before, those who deserve judgement will receive it!" Mom shouted, her voice filling the room.

"Then you'd best be in a receiving manner," I chuckled, lashing out with tendrils of metal and catching a dozen blades. Mom looked stunned for a moment as I spun on the spot, controlling my new blades like I had an extra six arms and actively deflecting each shot with greater ease, just like how Mr. Polendina taught me. The slight shock that mom felt was enough to just barely disrupt her rhythm, and I shot forward while whipping the swords around, though mom was already back on track, eyes narrowed as she dared around the room. With every shot of dust that I fired off, she was quick to dodge while never stopping with her own barrage of swords. '_Clearly my range advantage isn't as great as I originally thought_,' I wondered. "Check her aura-level," I muttered, the AI in my HUD doing some quick calculations as it locked on to her. "Auric Reserves currently at 89%." I snorted at that. '_And mine's probably around the low sixties, considering all the damage I've taken... lets even that out a bit._' Immediately, the amplifiers in my suit redirected the excess aura in the suit right into my body, putting be back on a somewhat even playing-field with mom.

'_Only somewhat,_' I chided myself, dodging another larger blade that scraped by my cheek. '_Can't keep this defensive game up for long, she's still faster than me and those swords aren't going to stop coming. My best bet for victory is to restrain her!' _Already formulating a plan, I began randomly firing off aura-blasts, imbuing them with a hint of gravity dust that allowed them to float in place. Mom's eyes grew suspicious, and she was quick to start firing off some of her own blades to destroy them, dealing with others personally. '_Good,_' I thought as I instantly directed them at a new target: of course being mom. "I hope that you don't think you'll be able to beat me by simple pot-shooting!" Mom laughed. I grinned back in response, forcing the blasts to converge on her all at once. Even still, she managed to defend herself with ease, her Summon armour tanking the blasts she couldn't deflect like rain on a glass window. Perfect.

"Activate Gravity dust, full energy usage!" The scattered dust in the air still had remnants of my aura imbued in them, and suddenly a dome of pure gravity formed around mom, all of her movements ceasing. '_Nice to see that a black-hole trap can be useful against someone as skilled as her. Time to finish this!_' Racing through the air, I charged up almost all of the suit's power along with my aura into my hands, the entire room glowing with a pale blue light as a sphere of pure energy formed in each palm with a crackle of lightning. Pointing both of my palms as mother, I felt my heart beat in my ears as I roared, "**FINAL FLAAAASH**!" The beam hit her dead on, her armour cracking and beginning to flake off. '_Keep pushing, I'll burn through her aura!_' Somehow, through sheer pride or stubbornness (still don't know which) mom reached her hand out the stream and grabbed me by the wrists, her eyes flashing dangerously. In the blink of an eye, I was hit from both sides with two massive impacts, blasting the air out of my lungs and crushing much of the nanites that made up my armour.

Pain made my body lock up, my energy-stream shutting off as I crashed to the floor. "...Status report," I groaned, sitting up and trying to get to my feet as quickly as I could. "You currently have two broken ribs, a fracture in your right forearm and a heavy amount of bruising on your left leg. Aura level has dropped to 11%, and about 70% of the suit's capabilities have been rendered useless." I rolled my eyes before wincing: even doing just that hurt a fair bit. I sudden chill down my spine made me leap out of the way as fast as I could, looking back to see a giant glowing metal fist pulverise the ground I was just on. "Of course she's not showing any mercy," I muttered as she rocketed out of the air, an armoured fist cocked back as her eyes gleamed on her face, dead of expression. The moment I saw that cold, unfeeling face, I felt something crack in my chest, like a glass ball being hit with a mallet.

Warmth rushed into my head, and I felt that heat pulse around like my entire body. "**You will not strike me,**" A voice echoed, and mom was suddenly slammed into the floor. My body seemed to move on its own, pride fuelling everything that I did. "**Your armour is useless.**" The glowing white armour around her cracked rapidly, shattering into shards within moments. She tried to get up, but that same invisible weight pulled her back down again. "**... I will defeat you!**" I roared as I raised a hand, channeling all of the remaining nanites onto my arm, forming a massive wicked-looking blade glowing with my aura. I swung down with all my might, the sword cutting through the air like butter, cutting through mom's black glyph like it wasn't even there and racing right at her head. '_I've won_!' The ground in front of me was ripped in half, the raw power behind it carving a groove through the entire room. It took me a second, but I stared in horror at the damage I did... and what happened to mom. "MO-!" I started, before I was suddenly whacked in the back of the head, my knees going wobbly before I fell to the floor.

**Music End**

"I'm perfectly fine, you dunce," She laughed. I flopped around onto my back, breathing a sigh of relief as mom squatted down in front of me, a genuinely proud grin on her face. There was a small cut on her forehead that was healing, through a bit slower than I normally saw her heal up. "You did well Wolfram, I'm proud to see that you've come so far." She stood up and held out a hand to me, and I took it, basking in the pride and joy of the moment. "I had no doubt that you'd make it. You'll do just fine in Beacon Academy." I let the tears flow freely, grabbing mom and giving her a big bearhug. "I promise to make the Schnee name proud, and I'll make you and dad even prouder mom." She flicked me on the forehead, a smile on her face. "Dunce. Forget about your name, and me and your father for a moment."

"Actually it's 'your father and I-'"

"Shut up for a moment," She sighed, flicking me again as I chuckled. "Yes, you carry the name of a Schnee, and ultimately image is very important in our world. But you should live your life the way you choose to live. Don't feel an uneccessary obligation to be a Schnee: be the best Wolfram you can be." I smiled and hugged mom tightly one more time, whispering "Thank you," with everything I had. "I'm curious though," Mom said aloud, pulling away and holding my face with a funny expression. "That... thing that you did at the end. It's done something to you." I raised a brow and she simply reached into her back pocket, pulling out a random-ass mirror. '_Why in the hell does mom have a... hold on, what?_' I nearly freaked out as I saw my eyes: instead of normal eyes, where an Iris and a pupil would be was replaced with a freaking Glyph. Plain as it was, it still looked really similar to the Hereditary Schnee Glyphs that mom used. And if that was the case... "You have a second semblance," mom deduced, surprised as I was.

"So... I've got my Metallurgy... but I've still inherited your Semblance?" I asked, fighting to keep the excitement out of my voice. "No... a mutation!" Stuff like this was incredibly rare, and the possibilites exploded through my mind. What exactly did it do? Any major long-term drawbacks? Could I make a freaking _synergy_ with my Metallurgy? The potential was nearly endless as far as I was concerned. "The Schnee Glyphs allow me to exert my will and desires into the world," Mom thought aloud. "I can push, pull, stop momentum, manipulate time, teleport, and many other things. But you... you seem to have nearly complete control over yourself and the environment around you, though in a very limited range. It's as if you... force your desire at that moment to manifest." Looking deeply into my reflection, I grinned and clenched my fist.

'_With everything I have right now... I'll take Beacon by storm, and I'll rise to the very top!_'

**_To be continued..._**

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**A.N: And two months later, I finally have this thing out! Already have a plan for the next chapter, so I hope you guys wait for the next one and enjoy this chapter, because we move onto the daughter of Yang! Peace out ;p **


	3. Chapter A

**A.N: Alriiight everyone! Glad to see that this story is picking up some steam, even if it's a bit slow. I feel way more confident with my writing and the direction of this story the further I get into it, to be honest. Into the Dark is ambitious, but I've tried to cram too much, especially in the beginning of the story with extra characters with my... less developed writing style. Either way, let's hop right into the next chapter/trailer!**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter A**

**Daughter of a roaring dragon!**

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**Asuka Xiao-Long Arc **

"Bring it Grandma Raven, I can do this all day!" I roared, kicking off the wall and rocketing right for her with a clenched fist. Grandma's salt and pepper hair flowed in the wind as she twisted her body away from my razor-sharp punch. My instinct screamed at me and I guarded my stomach just in time, a pitch-black blade flashing straight up almost faster than I could see, knocking me sky-high. '_Above!_' I twisted my own body and finally activated my semblance, all my movements on overdrive as steam shot off of my skin. My fist clashed with her descending blade, a loud ***BOOM*** echoing through the sky as a shockwave pushed us away from each other. We landed back on the deck, but I didn't waste any time as I pushed my power to its max, a tornado of steam swirling around me, the air beginning to ripple with the heat from my body. "Finally deciding to go al out brat?" She laughed, her own blood-red aura roiling around her. "You know what happened last time we fought."

"Screw off oldy, I'm winning this time! **Fighting Gold!**" I shot forward, faster than ever before and blitzing her with a rush of punches and kicks. She was harder-pressed this time, furiously working her blade to deflect as many of my strikes as she could. '_Good, time to break that defence!_' I thought as I quickly weaved under another slash of hers, the shockwave of it gouging out the ground. "**Fist of the Black Turtle!**" I focused all of my aura into my right hand, activating the gravity-dust and slamming it into her liver with a sharp ***_CRACK_***, a black and purple-tinted showave enveloping her. She stayed on her feet but skid back, doubled over and winded. '_Lay on the pressure!_' My mind roared, and my body followed. "**Rage of the White Tiger!**" I dashed right at her and constantly twisted my body to generate as much power and wind as I could, blasting her with full-bodied punches that snapped her head backward and forward. '_Put her in a position where she can't attack!_'

"**Rising strike**,** Red Phoenix!**" I spun and my flaming fist shot right into her chin, flipping her head over heels into the air. Leaping above her, I channeled as much of my aura into my hands as I could, activating the water-dust in my left gauntlet. "This is it! **Blue Wave...!**" The water in the air boiled and writhed, responding to my aura and forming the shape of an eastern serpent. "**AZURE DRAGON!**" THe construct raced through the air and slammed into Grandma Raven, sending her crashing to the deck. I dropped down soon after, checking to make sure she was down. Where she should have been smashed into the metal floor, there was only an indentation of a person. "...SHI-!" I started before I felt something sharp bite into my spine, sending tumbling right into a wall with a ***THUD***, all the air driven from my lungs and my power fading, the stamina cost already catching up to me. I tried to get to my feet only to find a blade pointed at my throat. "Checkmate, brat," She chuckled, earning a massive roar of approval from the crew of the ship who were watching, including mom and dad.

I sighed and spat, a bit disappointed that I couldn't win, but I couldn't wipe that grin off my face, because damn if I didn't have fun! "That combination in tandem with your semblance for sure can put down anyone in Beacon and maybe even some of the newer Hunters in the world. But as you can see... if you can't finish them with it, then don't bother."

"Yeah-yeah, I hear ya grandma."

"... it was really cool though," She admitted, laughing as she hauled me to my feet. I grinned wider and pulled her into a hug, letting her ruffle my hair for a bit... until mom barrelled me over like bowling-pins. "That's my giiiirl!" Mom laughed, whipping me around and I couldn't help but shriek with laughter as well. I was tossed into dad's arms, getting another bone-grinding hug from him. "You did amazing Asuka! I've never seen you move so fast!"

"What do you expect Jaune? That brat's the offspring of you and my own daughter, of course she's going to improve leaps and bounds." Mom got a bit serious for a second, walking to to grandma and facing off with her for a second. Everyone stood still for a moment before mom pulled her into a tight hug, muttering "Thank's mom." Grandma's eyes softened, and she returned the hug, a bit awkwardly but genuinely. "Don't mention it Yang," She back up but still held mom by the shoulders, smirking, "Though I'm sure that she would have eventually gotten to where she is now, your coddling would have held her back." Mom rolled her eyes and punched her in the shoulder, though she was smiling a bit. "Dad, mom and grandma are having a mother-daughter moment," I sighed, raising a brow as I saw dad crying slightly. "And it's _beautiful_..." he wept. I rolled my eyes and chuckled, striding over to the edge of the second floor, looking into the sky. Grandma Raven's sky-fleet was always breathtaking, fifty heavily armed and fully armoured battleships, all of them at _least_ housing twenty fighter-jets each, fifty at best.

All of them centred around Grandma's flagship, the same massive Dreadnought I was standing on, the S.S Muninn. If you wanted raw, unadulterated firepower, Grandma's fleet could provide in spades. Wherever the hell the Chaos Agency's base was, there would be hell to pay when the fleet found them. "Back to work you lazy scrubs!" Grandma shouted, "I want this deck repaired, the cannons checked, and someone _please_ ensure that the armoury is fully stocked!"

"Aye-aye captain!" The crew roared back, immediately getting back to their jobs. "Feel free to explore around the ship kid," Grandma said, tossing me a black little keycard, "That'll let you access nearly any place you need to go... just not the places that can let things explode." I pouted as dad laughed, patting me on the head. "You'll get your chance Asuka. Just be nice and don't blow anything up. You have to admit, this is a load of fun though!" I grinned and nodded, looking back out into the sky. "No kidding dad. Can't say I was expecting to get my ass kicked by Grandma again for work experience," I sighed. "... but I'll just have to get stronger. It's what I'm best at." He smiled fondly and ruffled my hair for a bit, the pride in his eyes only stoking that burning drive in me further. "Have fun and don't get too lost kid," Mom laughed and hugged me one more time, Grandma winking at me.

Not to long after, I found myself wandering around the Dreadnought, staring at the crew and technicians working on the smaller fighter-jets, intricate layouts of dust-wiring that were well beyond my understanding, but nothing short of incredible to watch. Making my body stronger was my top priority, but that still didn't change the fact that even I could admire some solid tech. I moseyed on over to the giant cannons, looking at all the stockpiled ammunition and grinning. Magma rounds, meant to stick to a target and keep burning. Slug rounds, filled with gravity and wind-dust to create an effective piercing force. EMP rounds, enough lightning dust inside of them to take down massive chunks of a battleship. '_I wonder if any of them could work well with my semblance..._' I thought idly, looking at the simple array of dust crystals in my gauntlets and boots. Each one had a pair of simple rechargeable Dust Crystal, enough to last me six months at full power.

"O-oh!" I heard a voice off to my left shout. Quickly pivoting, I saw a boy maybe my age struggling to hold a tower of boxes. It was impressive that he managed to lift that much, considering that he didn't look all that muscular. I dashed towards him as he toppled, quickly catching the five that nearly crashed to the floor. "You alright there dude?" I asked with a grin, gently stacking them again. "Ah, thank you so much!" He said happily, his face covered by the boxes he was still carrying, "Even with my aura, I still have a lot of trouble carrying super-heavy loads."

"So why carry so much?" I chuckled, but curious. He put the boxes down and stood up, revealing a boyishly handsome face, chocolate brown eyes, lightly tanned with a bit of freckles... and neatly styled, hot-pink hair done in a ponytail. "Because above all else, I think that results are the most important thing to consider when trying to achieve something. It's helped _me_ so far," He said, "... I don't think I caught your name?" I raised a brow and grinned, somewhat liking his idea. "Asuka. Asuka Arc." He raised a brow, recognising the name. "You can call me Doppio."

**One hour later...**

"So... it's like you can read the future then?" I asked, astonished. I took pride in my own Semblance, Fighting Gold. All that I really knew about it was that it could speed something up, so long as it was moving first, but that already gave me a wide variety of things to do. A semblance that looks into the future with one-hundred percent accuracy though? I was pretty sure that something like that was insanely rare. "Pretty much yeah!" He said, shyly scratching the back of his neck. "The image or film that I see tells me exactly what's going to happen. Problem with that is some things are a bit more... vague. I can tell when it's going to happen, but not really how. Like this one time, a bunch of knives just appeared in my Epitaph, that's what I call it," He said quickly as I raised a brow, "And I didn't realise that someone was invisible, and throwing knives at me!" We laughed and I clapped him on the back at that. "Wow, sounds like fun," I snickered, "Seriously though, that's a really useful semblance. I'm guessing it's saved your ass a lot of times."

"You have no idea!" He laughed, idly allowing a tiny bird to land on his head. "Honestly I'm grateful for it."

"Yeah, I bet that the crew here is really happy to have someone like you on board. Kinda surprised that you aren't in some kinda special division with my Grandma." Just barely, I noticed him flinch slightly before he laughed, looking a bit crestfallen. '_Was he not able to make it in?_'

"I'm actually kinda new here," He said, "Though I'm trying to apply for the position."

"Cool!" I laughed, though I hid how I actually felt. '_Something's... off. He's a year younger than I am, but all the scars on his body show just how many fights he's been in. Not to mention, more than half of them are lethal, but for him to be here says he's either really lucky, which is bullshit... or he has a lot of flighting experience under his belt. You don't get that many scars from just running away._' He wasn't looking at me, but I narrowed my eyes at him slightly. '_Grandma would have immediately taken him in thanks to that semblance of his, even if he was a brand new recruit, not to mention all that experience he must have... what are you hiding, Doppio?_'

"Oh, that reminds me, can I get some help with something?" He asked. "I've got a couple more boxes I need to carry, and I'd prefer not to slip and blow everyone up." I thought for a moment and decided to play along. After all, he was pretty courteous to me and didn't give me any trouble. "Sure thing, I've got loads of time on my hands. Just lead the way." We got up and walked around, Doppio leading me into one of the hangars, this one a bit more empty than the others. I couldn't help myself as I gazed around, looking at the high ceilings, light streaming in through the windows. "The boxes are a bit further down," Doppio said with a small grin, pointing at a small pile of them that were further down, resting in between were some supports and pillars where repairs were being made to the ceiling above. "There aren't much left, and I'm pretty sure we can carry them both."

"Easy enough," I agreed, jogging over to the boxes and rolling my shoulders. '_Back still aches from the impact,'_ I groaned internally, sucking it up and getting ready to lift them, Doppio doing the same. He grunted as he lifted them, hefting it up... and started to topple backwards, tripping up on a stray hammer. A box at the top of his stack popped open, and a single broken dust-grenade fell out. "DOPPIO LOOK OUT!" I screamed, activating my semblance to try and catch it before it hit the ground. I blinked, and... something weird happened. I didn't even bend my knees or dive through the air, yet I was already on the floor, holding the grenade in my hands. "...eh?" I muttered, confused. I didn't even remember my body hitting the floor! I sensed something and looked up, Doppio's face covered by shadow as he raised a foot, right over the grenade in my hands. "What the FU-!?" He stomped down and my world turned orange, my body flung back like a rag-doll and crashing right through a pillar. As soon as I touched down, I tucked my body and sprung to my feet, putting my guard up. "My mother hits a thousand times harder than a simple grenade!" I shouted, "What the hell is your problem!?"

Wood supports burned and the pillar came crashing down, yet I didn't see where the hell he went. '_I was right! He has to be a spy for the Insurgency!_'

"INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT!" Sirens blared, "INTRUDER IN HANGAR 4, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" The windows overhead were shut tight, the only lights in the room being the dim broken ones up top. "You've impressed me on two accounts," He said, startling me as he just seemed to appear in my vision, standing a couple meters away from me. "First, I congratulate you on surviving that explosion. I openly admit that I thought it would kill you, but it appears that you are far more durable than I expected." I wasn't able to see his face, but I could see that his shirt and pants were burnt badly, which meant he didn't dodge at all. "And secondly..." He started to walk, motioning to go behind a pillar, his hands going to the hem of his shirt. He blinked, and for a moment, I saw his eyes roll into his head in different directions, making me shudder, before they suddenly turned a harsh emerald colour. I blinked again, and he was already behind it, like he teleported. "To think that you actually saw through Doppio. You're very intuitive, far more so than I expected." I heard multiple pops and cracks from behind the pillar, sounding eerily like bone and muscle being stretched and snapped. I nearly leaped out of my skin as I heard his voice again, this time it was way deeper, refined... deadly.

Again, Doppio... no, _whoever_ this was, appeared on the other side, and my legs shook like jello. Gone was the boy who was my height, and the soft, kind face he once wore. Now a man stood in front of me, at least six feet tall, his body filled out with muscle and his hair now flowing by his waist. The most terrifying part? I couldn't see his face. All I could make out were those piercing emerald eyes, the rest of his face looking like a black, shifting mass of shadows. His dark pink aura was writhing around him, every instinct of mine screaming to get away as he started to walk forward. He started to walk forward, slowly and leisurely like he wasn't about to be caught. "W-who the hell do you think you are!?" I roared, trying to cover up my fear by flaring my ow aura and putting my guard. "You're on the middle of my Grandma's Dreadnought, miles up in the sky!" He laughed, a full heavy sound that mocked me and filled the entire hangar. "Who am I? I am what your parents and your grandmother seek, the one who controls Chaos. I stand at the pinnacle of humanity, and there is nobody who can defeat me!" My jaw dropped open as soon as I realised who stood in front of me. "...y-you are... the Boss of the Chaos Insurgency! You're _Diavolo_!"

"That is correct," He said, suddenly right next to me. "Understand that the moment you entered my range, your life became forfeit, Asuka Arc!" In a flash, I felt something rocket into my chest and I felt something literally crack like a twig, my body flung back with ease, crashing into the wall. I gasped for air as I nearly fell to my knees. Looking up, I saw that he was casually walking towards me again, a slightly visible fist fading back into his body. '_Th-that's... got to be a Stand-Type Semblance!_' I thought, '_But his ability is foresight! How does he do that weird teleporting thing!?_' I grit my teeth and activated the water-dust, circling my hands and activating my semblance. "**Blue wave, Azure Dragon!**" I was about fire off the attack, only for that weird thing to happen again. My hands were already forward without having actually moved them, the dragon already slamming into a pillar behind him. He was completely unfazed, again having suddenly teleported a few steps closer. '_How the hell is he doing that!?_' I screamed and shot forward, thinking that my best option was to take him head on and restrain him in some way.

"Stay right where you are, so I can beat the crap out of you!" I roared, cocking my fists back and firing of as many punches as I could. He stood on the spot, casually weaving his head and body around each punch with ease. "Strong, but not snappy enough," he mused. I snarled and tensed my legs, ready to leap forward and tackle him. Suddenly, my head smacked right into another forehead: I froze in shock as I stared at myself. "I tackled... me!?" I blinked again, and suddenly I was in the exact position that the other me was in, my breathing getting heavy as I started to panic. The entire room had turned a shade of bloody red, shadows stretching and dancing across the walls, pillars of solid blood appearing out of nowhere. Besides that, most of the room remained the same, the fires of the grenade still burning, the scaffolding still up there. I sat in the middle of the room, a hallway of crimson tiles that led to a handful of steps. At the very top of it was a simple marble throne, also blood-red, and seated in it was Diavolo himself, his legs crossed as if he were relaxing.

"You are confused, correct?" He asked, his face still hidden by that morphing shadow, though his eyes still gleamed. He suddenly disappeared, and I scrambled to my feet and put my back to a pillar. "Welcome to the **Court of the Crimson King!**" His voice boomed from my right side. I pivoted and screamed as I fired a bolt of gravity off, shattering one of the pillars. "You have impressed me on one final account. I can tell you have figured out my Semblance-Type." The voice came from the left, and I whipped my foot around, cutting through some scaffolding with ease. I leaped away as it collapsed, nearly falling on my ass from how much I was shaking. "Seeing as you've managed to impress my three times, I've decided that I will reveal to you one of my abilities, the one that has allowed me to reach the top." I prepared myself to leap away again, only for me to have already jumped. '_What the hell is this!? It's like I'm skipping the process of any of my actions!_' My mind started to piece it together, and I fell all the blood drain away from my face. '_Skipping actions... oh God, is he... Skipping time!?_'

"Interesting! A fourth time, in such a short span," He said, directly behind me. "From the look on your face, I can tell you've figured it out. Every action you take is meaningless against me. A moment ago... what you had just run into was your own future self! The you from a few seconds past saw your future self. This is the most basic ability of my invincible **King Crimson Requiem**! I eradicated time, and leaped past it!" I roared and fired off my semblance at full throttle, swinging at his head with all my might. Instead, all my impact was cut dead as something stood in place of where I thought he was. A humanoid, muscular figure almost seven feet tall stood over me, its killing intent washing over me as it stopped my attack with a single pinky-finger. Its arms were covered in dark magenta sleeves from the tip of its fingers right to its shoulders, decorated with golden plates on its knuckles and parts of the cloth open on its taut biceps, revealing crimson skin. Its toned chest was bare but studded with bits of gold, ripped abs clothed with a magenta wire-mesh. It wore a long waste-cape, magenta at his waste and fading into blood red at the ends. Its legs were covered in thin golden and red armour-plating, heeled boots from the shin down also armoured with gold and red.

Its face... it was also almost pure crimson in colour, pure golden eyes ringed with magenta stared right at me, an emerald right on its forehead with a vague impression of a smaller face within it. The back part of its head from where I was standing made it look like it extended out into jagged, pointed tips, like a screwed up crown. Perfect white teeth in its well shaped mouth were bared right at me, an expression of hate and glee on its face. "As strong as you are right now, you will never threaten my everlasting climax. It doesn't matter whether you live or die... however, as the king of your fate, I've decided..." King Crimson's arm seemed to blur and pain blasted through my stomach, my vision doubling as I vomited a gout of it up. I slowly looked down, and I tried to scream, but all I managed was a strangled cry as I saw his hand imbedded up to his wrist in my stomach. '_O-one hit... broke through my... aura!_'

"It would be best to end your life here and now. Take comfort in knowing that you managed to survive for this long, Asuka Arc." King Crimson's free hand raised up, poised to chop my head off. '_I-I'm going to die!_' I screamed to myself, tears flowing down my face as his arm blurred. "**Dragonfist: _EXPLOSION_!**" A familiar voice roared as a red portal opened up in front of me, mom's glowing prosthetic fist wreathed in the shape of a dragon bursting out and slamming into King Crimson's chest with a ***BOOM***, the force blasting him backwards and shattering the crimson world around me, everything returning to normal. Dad caught me as I collapsed, pumping his aura directly onto my wound and healing it as fast as he could. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR TOUCHING MY BABY GIRL, YOU BASTAAARD!" Mom roared, her aura like a roaring bonfire as she leaped after him, Grandma not far behind her with a fierce look on her face. My head started to swim, but I couldn't stop crying and shaking, even as dad was healing me, the last thing I saw being mom clashing fists with King Crimson.

'_N... never again..._' I vowed to myself as I started to pass out, more tears streaming from my face as dad tried to call to me, his voice a hazy mess. '_I'll... never be... weak again! I'll... come after you... Diavolo..._' I promised as I finally blacked out, giving in to the pain.

**To Be continued...**

* * *

**A.N: Aaaand that's a wrap! So, Diavolo of Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, part 5. Why? Well, Volume one of RWBY had Torchwick. So to represent the next generation of it, Diavolo has taken his place. Of course, that isn't to say everything is a rehash, I made sure to add a couple of twists here and there to keep things exciting. In this case, you read this right, this takes place where Diavolo kept the Requiem Arrow and sought to make himself truly powerful, and completely untraceable and unidentifiable. Of course I haven't shown the depths of his _Requiem_ abilities, but that won't be for another long while. If Torchwick was the first true baddy of the show, then Diavolo as the first threat to the next generation should show you how much bigger, or at least more dangerous the threat of this world are now. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and I'd really appreciate feedback and how I'm doing so far. Peace out and have a good read everyone!**


	4. Chapter T

** A.N: Hello once again everyone! Nothing much to say except hope you enjoy this chapter. Just a reminder that I don't actually own anything that isn't mine, eg. Music, Characters, Series, etc. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter T **

**Child of the Monkey-King!**

* * *

**Terra Wukong**

"Terra, it's time to get up," Mom chided, nudging me gently. I groaned and pulled the blanket tighter over my head, trying to bury myself deeper into the bed. "You can't live in your bed all day, even though it doesn't sound like a bad idea." I grumbled and idly pawed at mom to go away, and I barely heard a chuckle from mom before my senses screamed a warning. I leaped out of the bed, flinging the blanket right at her. Her katana slashed right through the cloth and I hovered safely above with my semblance, riding the fluffy black cloud with ease. "If you're trying to get me out of bed," I yawned, "You could've done a way better job if you just broke the bed." Mom rolled her eyes but grinned all the same, grabbing the cloud and dragging me out of the room. I yawned again and stretched my body, rolling off the cloud and landing of my feet. "Terra, we can't just destroy your bed, I'm not going to spend money on needlessly breaking furniture."

"Hon, if it gets Terra out of bed then it's fine!" Dad laughed, "We're pretty much rich enough to buy out an entire furniture store like ten times over." Mom sighed and kissed him on his stubbled cheek before kissing me on the forehead. "You two are such children sometimes, and I honestly don't know how I deal with you." We both laughed and kissed mom back on either side of her face. "You know you love us," Dad grinned, "And you can't live without us," I completed, unfurling my monkey-tail and grabbing a mug with it, idly twirling it as I nabbed some orange-juice from fridge. "So, breakfast iiiiis...?" I started, motioning to dad. "Chocolate-Blueberry Pancakes!" At that I nearly found the energy to cheer. Nearly. Dad's pancakes were the best in the world, and it made waking up for the next day that much more worth it. "So what's the plan today guys?" I asked, wiping my mouth with a napkin. "We're pretty much free. I've been practicing throughout the week, dad's already done his rounds at the Vacuo boarders, and mom already made her trip to Atlas and did her speeches there."

"Well, we were planning to have a family day out at the Vacuo Grand Mall!" Dad said, excited as all hell (and maybe so was I), "Eat a load of crap, buy even more stuff we may or may not need and watch a movie. We're both really proud that you're taking your application to Beacon seriously. On that note, we're gonna have some fun today!" I smiled and pulled both of them into a hug, grinning as I muttered "Thank you guys."

"It pays to get off your lazy butt and work," Mom laughed, ruffling my hair a bit. "Now take a shower and get dressed, we've got a whole day of fun ahead of us."

"...could I take a five minute nap first?" I asked.

"SHOWER. NOW."

**One hour later...**

"So you aren't planning on adding some kind of ranged variation to Kuroyuki? We both know that you already have a good understanding of firearms..." Mom pondered aloud, holding my Naginata and examining it. "Yeah, no need to have some kind of massive gun like a sniper-rife. My semblance itself already covers a good deal of range, plus I don't need to spend so much money on ammunition and stuff like that. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure at least two other people on my team are gonna have some good ranged options to cover me."

"That's... actually pretty efficient of you," Mom noted, impressed.

"Being lazy has its benefits," I replied, trying not to smile. "But I am gonna need some better armour. Even if my Semblance if flexible enough to cover a lot of areas, and I can hold my own in close range, there's no doubt someone out there who can land a good shot on me." Mom hummed in agreement as we browsed the armour section of the store. "Iron plating is too heavy... Titanium is decent as well, but not what I'm looking for." I drifted over to the cloth section and I felt my face sour. "Leather and Kelvar don't really amount to much nowadays in terms of defence. Kinda surprised people still sell this stuff..." As soon as I passed over again, I raised a brow as I locked onto a brand new metal-type armour. "...Antanium mesh?" In front of me was a purple-hued black cloth, very faintly reflecting the light of the store. Touching the sample, I flinched and retracted my hand. '_It's soft._' Mom saw my reaction and was curious as well, checking the material. "Huh. I've never heard of this type of metal used as armour before," She said, "It's normally used for more delicate stuff, like aura-transferring."

My ears perked up at that as I turned to her. "So this is hyper-aura conductive?" Mom simply nodded, examining it for a bit longer. "I'm surprised that this store has so much of it. It's a pretty rare metal from what I know, but I'm not sure about its strength..." Immediately, I grabbed it and walked over to the head of the store, whipping out my wallet and handing the mesh to him. "I want enough to make a jacket with these measurements," I said, handing him a quick sketch of what I wanted along with my measurements, "Along with light padding that can fit with any general pants." He examined it for a bit before grunting and nodding, holding out a hand for the cash. I opened my wallet but paused as he said "Seventy-nine Lien."

"...huh?"

"Seventy-nine Lien girly. Take it or leave it."

"Y-yeah, there's no issue... but it's that cheap? I thought that this is a rare metal." He grunted and nodded again, pointing to the mesh, "Yeah it's rare naturally, but a lot of broken and unwanted weapons are handed back to me. I break them down and extract each material, so I managed to get a hand on quite the load of Antanium. Consider yerself lucky kid." I smiled and bowed a bit with a sincere "Thank you sir."

"Don't mention it, it's my job." He got to work with speed as soon as he reached his workbench, his hands flying across the table. His hammer and welding-torch blurred as he worked at a blinding pace, half of my jacket already done in under a minute. I was surprised that what took the longest out of everything was the welding part. He needed a white-hot flame to even partially melt the interlinking chains together. About fifteen minutes later, he finished up with everything and handed them in a neat pile to me. Wordlessly, I quickly put them on over my t-shirt and jeans, slinging the jacket over and smiling a bit at how warm it was, like a fresh batch of laundry. Looking for the leg-padding, I raised a brow as I saw the lack of pants, instead seeing a full on waist-cape, black and gold-trimmed like my jacket. "Light padding and boots wouldn't make much sense," he explained, "and since Antanium responds to your aura, you'll find that a waist-cape with extra pouches might be more your style." I nodded and wrapped it around my waist, surprised at how light it was.

I walked over to the combat room and warmed up for a bit with it on, again surprised at how light it was and how it didn't seem to trap any body-heat. Deciding to step it up a bit, I started to leap into more acrobatic movements, backflipping into the air and activating little cloudy footholds with my semblance, springing off of them and casually flowing into my martial-arts mid-air. '_This stuff doesn't restrict my movements at all,_' I thought with a small grin. '_And it flows like its cloth. Is this stuff really metal?_'

"Hey mom!" I called out, still bouncing around in the air. "Could you please shoot me?" She chuckled and pulled out her katana, shifting it into her handgun form and firing off three quick shots. Channeling my aura through my jacket, I flinched in shock as it immediately responded, flaring up and smacking the bullets aside with ease. '_Okay, wow. I was expecting it to be durable, but for it to be this responsive? I got my hands on a one-time deal! What else can this thing do?'_ I let loose more of my power, outright dashing through the air and shooting off the walls of the testing-room. I shot straight up and tucked my body tight, landing feet-first on the ceiling before firing off straight down at breakneck speed. '_Now should be good._' I channeled my aura through the jacket one more time, flaring the cloth out like a pair of wings attached to my arms, near-instantly killing my speed and letting me land safely. I took off again, stiffening the jacket and the waist-cape to make a set of wings, surprised at the stability that it offered, even as I twisted and dashed around mid-air with zero delay.

I touched down again and breathed out gently, calming myself and cooling down. "Mom, shoot me again but with an aura-infused bullet." She concentrated for a moment, her gun glowing with her aura before she pointed it at me and fired. The ***BANG*** echoed through the room and I had no time to dodge, a purple streak blasting right into my solar plexus. I flinched back and coughed in surprise as I felt the impact, though nowhere near as powerful as it should have been. The entire jacket rippled like water, dispersing the impact into the air. "That's a pretty awesome set of armour you've got kid!" Dad laughed, patting me on the back. "Now let's get something to eat, I'm starving."

"Sun, you ate an hour ago!" Mom sighed, rubbing her forehead and closing her eyes, trying not to show her annoyance. "I mean, if I could have you then I'd be fine for the rest of the day," dad purred, wrapping an arm around mom's waist. She stiffed before shuddering a bit, her cheeks turning pink. "Guys, can you please not do this here?" I whined, covering my eyes and turning away, mortified at the people who were looking at us. "We are in public, save it for the house and when I have my earplugs in!" I sighed, grabbing them both by the wrists and dragging them out of the store. "Now I say let's cut the hanky-panky stuff out and get something to eat _please_." Dad sighed and agreed, but kept an arm around mom's waist. "Mom, you're doing the giddy-smile again." She struggled to wipe it off her face, but all three of us knew that it wasn't coming off any time soon.

It didn't take too long to find a skewered kebab stall, filled to the brim with meats and grilled vegetables of all kinds, the rich spices and flavours wafting into the air and making my stomach grumble again. "You go first Terra, it's your day today," Dad said with a grin. I stepped forward and immediately knew what I wanted. "I'll have the Sultan's Rule, extra large with extra spice. Like, a LOT of extra spice." Moments, I drooled at the sight of the foot-long tower of food on a stick, steaming and smelling like heaven. Mom was next, humming as she looked through the menu before her eyes lit up as soon as she saw the Tuna-special. "I'll get-" I tuned mom out as I chomped into the food, tearing chunks out of it with ease. I sighed to myself in pleasure, the spicy goodness and the hearty meat letting me relax like nothing else. If there was something that I inherited from my dad besides the tail, it was his terrifying appetite. The pork and the beef mixed together to create a perfect explosion of flavours, more than enough to satiate me for at least another hour.

Even as I was enjoying it, I suddenly felt all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I whipped around, looking straight up into the open and deceptively empty sky of the mall's ceiling. Mom and dad had already done the same, quickly finishing their skewers and looking up. Nobody else had noticed it, but there was a very slight hum in the air... the same hum found when someone was using a lot of gravity dust. "**It appears that I have been found out.**" A voice boomed through the mall, everyone yelping or jumping in surprise. Mom bared her teeth as the sky seemed to shift, revealing a fairly large airship, armoured and armed to the teeth with thick plating and mounted cannons. People immediately started to scream and panic, running for the exits and trying not to trip over themselves. "Hayden, you bastard!" Mom roared, aura sparking and crackling around her, dad quickly materialising his Staff made from pure aura. "**That's _Doctor_ Samuel Hayden to you, High Leader Belladonna,**" The deep and slightly metallic voice mocked. "**I would ask your forgiveness for the sudden drop-in on your wonderful family fun-day, but I could care less. 'The Boss' has allowed me to have a... test run of one of my latest developments. Seeing as you were close by, I figured that you would be more than suitable for what is undoubtedly one of my finest works.**"

"What did Diavolo give you free reign over this time?" Dad asked casually, leaning on his staff and picking his nose. "New robot? Some kinda fancy weapon? Ooh, did you finally take my advice and add a food-inator gun?"

"**...Everything besides that last one was not incorrect.**"

"Your still gonna add it right?"

"_Please_ shut up," mom sighed angrily.

"**As I was saying,**" He said, though more amused than annoyed, "**This will be the start of what I feel may be something truly revolutionary. It's still incomplete, but I think that the implications of it will _certainly_ be food for thought.**" Mom and dad looked at each other for a moment before they simply nodded, glaring right at the airship.

"**Extend and expand, Yeoui!**"

"**Blighted Nightshade!**"

Dad and mom roared in unison, giant spires and spikes of shadow tearing the ship apart from the inside out. Dad's staff seemed to blur as it suddenly turned into the size of a _bus_, extending and shoot all the way through the air like a hundred-ton bullet and ripping right through the giant ship like paper. "**I seriously hope you don't think I was talking about the ship,**" Hayden chuckled through the speakers of the mall as parts of the ship came crashing down. All of us were confused for a second before we saw the larger than usual size what what _looked_ to be smoking scrap crash right in the middle of the mall's courtyard. Looking closely, it was actually something more similar to giant metal egg, parts of it damaged... like something was inside of it, trying to break out.

***CLANG***

The metal suddenly burst outwards on the right side, the imprint of a giant fist the size of a car. Another deafening clang made the same result of the left side, before repeating itself constantly until the egg popped like a ballon, shards of metal being flung everywhere, though that was the furthest part that anyone was concerned about. The thing stood at least ten meters tall at first, shrouded in smoke before it hunched over and began to shrink down, black smoke and steam billowing off of its body. Now we were faced with an eight foot tall abomination: it was clearly a Grimm of some kind, very humanoid in shape, though its body was bulging with dense muscle. It's face ws pretty far from human on the other hand, a mouth with no lips revealing jagged, razor-sharp teeth. It had pure red slits for eyes, curved bone horns protruding from its forehead. What was shocking was what was on its chest and right arm. Where its heart was instead was a burning Red Dust-core, veins of smouldering energy spreading throughout its body. The right side of its torso, all the way to the tips of its clawed fingers would have been was encased in gunmetal-grey, high-tech armour, pulsing with dust-power along with pitch-black energy, the raw energy of Grimm. Where its hand was instead was now a massive cannon, shaking and shuddering with build-up power, ready to be unleashed.

"**The Demons are already a very rare breed of Grimm, so imagine my surprise when I found out that they release enough tangible Negative energy to serve as a power-source. Even if it's one of the weaker ones, it's an excellent starting-point.**"

"Are you INSANE!?" Mom shouted, "You think you can use GRIMM as an energy source!? You're just asking for karma to kick you in the ass!" Hayden actually laughed at that, genuine mirth in his voice. "**Perhaps**," He agreed, "**But the potential of an unlimited, and incredibly efficient power-source must be a tempting idea, is it not Sun Wukong?**"

"Well, I see where you're coming from," Dad sighed before rapidly spinning Yeoui, pointing it at the Cyber-Grimm, "But honestly? That idea's pretty stupid, even by my standards doc. So I suggest that you take your cyborg-Grimm-thing and hightail outta here please." No more words were shared as it suddenly blurred right in front of dad, its clawed fist clenched and arm cocked back. The punch slammed into dad's guard with such force that the shockwave blew me off of my feet and blasted me into a wall. My coat absorbed and dispersed a lot of the impact, so I landed comfortably on my feet, watching mom and dad fight the Cyber-Demon in awe. Dad's staff was a blur of gold as he parried and struck back with practiced grace, mixing in quick strikes with his hands and feet. While dad fought it head on, mom was dashing around it from blind and absurd angles, chopping into it with her katana and at times even diving into its own shadow to try and skewer it. Even with all that, what shocked me the most was how the Cyber-Demon never really flinched.

I knew from mom and dad that the Demon-types of Grimm were highly aggressive and insanely wild. This one didn't just throw out attacks wildly, it was preforming actual martial-art techniques with deadly precision, making full use of its body and its new upgrades while coming up with new ideas of its own, adapting to mom and dad's tactics. When mom tried to stab it from behind, it smoothly pivoted into her and elbowed her across the face. When dad moved in to try and knock it away from her, it weaved around his downward strike and swung a hook into his ribs. They recovered quickly enough and went right back to attacking it. Mom lashed out with tendrils of shadow, completely wrapping around it and letting dad go absolutely ham, his staff a circle of golden light as he peppered it with strikes that cracked bone and dented its armour.

Its mouth suddenly opened and it screamed, a high-pitched grating sound making me cringe before the dust-core in its chest began to pulse violently, the entire creature bursting in black and red flames. Mom yelped and danced away as the fire consumed her shadows near instantly, threatening to take her next. Dad spun Yeoui around himself, directing the flames away as he leaped backward. The heat was stifling, even for someone who grew up in Vacuo this was too much. The Cyber-Demon's cannon hummed violently as it pointed straight down, the raw heat coming off of it already melting the ground around itself. '_If that fires straight down, it'll turn the entire place to a pool of molten slag!_' I stopped thinking and shot straight forward, whipping my Naginata out and channeling my aura through it. "Extend, Black Snow!" The telescope-like staff shot forward and knocked the cannon-arm into the air just in time, a beam of black and red energy firing straight up into the air. Its eyes locked right onto me and I barely had time to duck as its hand shot forward, right where my eyes were. Even as I tried to weave away, it managed to track my dodge and whirl its leg around to almost catch me in the ribs. "TERRA, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" Mom screamed, panic on her face as I barely managed to dodge again.

"Stay out of this mom!" I shouted back, a grin stretching across my face as my heart started to pound, ""HE'S MINE!" It screeched in response to my challenge, stepping in and shooting its left arm out like a machine-gun. It managed to clip me on the cheek, snapping my head to the side and shooting another jab into my stomach. The force was more than the jacket could disperse, knocking me backward and winding me. It dashed in again, raising its mechanical arm and shifting its cannon into a normal fist and rocketing forward. Even with death aiming right for my face, there was nothing in this world that made me more excited than something that could push my limits. I breathed out and leaned back, letting its punch sail right over my face before I twisted around and shot a kick in the back of its leg, forcing it to a knee. I shouted as I chopped down with Black Snow's blade right on its neck, just where this mechanical components met the skin. I grinned wider as I was met with sparks and black blood spurting from the wound, only for it to crouch lower and lash its heel out into my ribs with a ***_BANG_***.

(**Que Music: Eternal Youth**)

My bones groaned in protest but I was more excited than ever. I twisted my body mid air and finally called on the manifestation of my soul, my semblance given a physical form. A black cloud formed beneath my feet, easily supporting me mid-air. Forming right next to me was a cloudy, hazy figure of a woman a bit taller than me, her entire body similar to mine a dark grey colour. The top of her head and her eyes was obscured by a large western cowboy hat, only showing her small little smirk. "Let's get to work, **Eternal Youth!**" I shouted, my Stand nodding as the cloud shot forward with me still on top of it. The Grimm jumped straight up and launched bursts of energy right at me and I quickly whirled Black Snow in front of me, clouds swirling in front of me at my command and wrapping around the blasts, stopping them mid-air. Eternal Youth flicked her hand out and launched them right back at the Grimm. They exploded with each impact, blasting it into the parking-lot and sending it crashing through the asphalt. "Full speed!" We shot forward even faster and I leaped off the cloud, shouting again as I dived down with Black Snow poised to stab through its heart.

It screeched and rolled out of the way just in time, my Naginata sinking through the stone like butter. It punched me right in the temple, the pain sharp and stinging as I felt the heat on my head. Eternal Youth waved her hand around, the entire parking-lot shrouded in a thin cloudy mist, still letting anyone easily see what was going on. The Demon rushed at me once more, firing off attack after attack, forcing me to duck, dodge, parry and counter as best as I could. It landed more than a few hits on me, its fists cracking across my face and sending me reeling. Still, I loved every second of it: the impacts on my body, the ring of my weapon striking home. Its uppercut sent me flying into a pole with a ***_CLANG_***, my legs giving out from the raw strength of this thing. It roared in triumph and rocketed right at me, cannon primed to burn me alive.

*_CLICK_*

It looked at its arm in confusion, trying to fire again but only to be met with the same result, a tiny sputter of flame exiting the barrel. "It's funny, you actually had a chance to kill me," I chuckled, "But you didn't seem to learn what my Stand was capable of." Eternal Youth coalesced from the bunch of clouds right in front of me, her hand holding a white-hot ball of flame. "Your heat is _something_ tangible, like the water in the air or sand on the ground. So long as I can grab that '_something_', I can hold it and release it whenever I want. That's Eternal Youth!" Her smirk widened as she clenched the ball of fire and punched right into its chest, the ball melting through its flesh with ease. It screamed and roared in agony as its body caught alight, the dust-core imploding and melting its flesh from the inside out. It tried to reach for me before its hand and arm withered to ash, its legs following soon after. It looked at me one more time, trying to gnash at my foot before its skull was cremated. The only thing left of it was the surprisingly still functional arm, parts of it smoking and popping with sparks.

(**End Music**)

Eternal Youth knelt down and picked up the arm, curiously looking over it with a small frown and letting me look at it too. (Alright, letting was a bit subjective, considering that Stand-type Semblances were a mirror of who you were and would normally follow your every command and in this case was just mirroring my desire to examine the thing, yada-yada) There was a load of tech that I had never seen before, batteries seemingly made out of pure negative energy. Before I could mull over it any more, I felt a hard slap on the back of my head. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Mom roared before pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. "You could have died out there! Dad and I could have handled it!" I chuckled and hugged her back tightly, trying to calm her down. "Mom, I know you and dad could have taken care of that thing easily. A high B-Class Grimm was a perfect test for me, and besides, if I was in trouble I know you'd step in and wreck that creature."

"THAT'S MAH GUUURL!" Dad laughed as he snatched me up and pulled me into an even harder hug. Eternal Youth silently giggled as she faded away, the mist swirling gently around me before disappearing entirely. "I knew you could handle yourself!"

"How could you be so flippant about it!?" Mom yelled at him, "She seriously could have died!"

"Honey, she's gonna be a Huntress," Dad chuckled, pulling her into a hug as well, "She's gonna have to face death and danger time and time again. She'll come across people and monsters that could lift houses and destroy countries in days, moreso now then ever. Even better, she'll learn to think like a Huntress, move like one, and surpass her limits time and time again. That's kinda what we're all about right?" Mom and I stared at him for a bit. Both of us were kinda shocked at how straightforward and wise he sounded, it was really rare that I myself had ever seen dad as serious as he was now, and his words held genuine truth to them. "Plus, it'll help her get off her lazy ass and work!" Mom rolled her eyes at that but smiled a bit, nodding her head. "Okay, I especially agree with that last part."

"Heeeey!" I whined, embarrassed as I lightly punched dad in the chest. We all had a calming laugh, slumping to the ground and tangled with each other. "...Anybody hungry again?" Dad asked, and I raised my hand, mom groaning and idly gripping her hair. "We ate, _literally_ ten minutes ago! How are the two of you hungry again!?"

"There's some really good shwarma on the east side of the mall," I suggested.

"Ooh, I've never had shwarma before! Any good?"

"It's amazing dad, you'll _love_ it."

"Are you two SERIOUS!?" Mom roared, pointing to the empty and slightly damaged mall. Dad and I looked at each other before he burst into laughter one more time, helping each other up and walking back into the mall. Even with all the happiness of everything having ended well and nobody ending up dead or wounded, I still couldn't shake the feeling of the weight in my bag, the weight of the Grimm prosthetic making me wonder, '_If the Insurgency managed to cook up something this powerful as a prototype, what's the end result?_' The thought stayed with me for a while before I managed to shrug it off. '_Tch, whatever the result, I'm more than good enough to deal with it. So let it come. I'll win, like I always do._'

**To be Continued...**

* * *

**A:N: Time for some Stand Stats! (I've always wanted to do this XD) **

**[Eternal Youth] **

**Strength- C**

**Speed- B**

**Range- B (50 meter max radius) **

**Defense- A**

**Precision- A**

**Potential- A**

**Ability: Eternal Youth has the ability to grab something tangible, hold it and then send it back. Ranging from bullets in the air to the sweat on a person, so long as what Terra wants to grab isn't locked down by anything, or the object itself isn't ridiculously heavy (ie she can't lift a car or take out a person's eye straight from the socket. She also cannot grab a concept or something she can't literally reach, like a person's water-content or Time itself). **

**Terra was honestly the character that I had the most trouble coming up with. It was always my intention to give her a Stand as well, but her initial design had a Stand that was waaaay to similar to Part 8's Soft and Wet. Then it hit me: she's Sun Wukong's daughter. I redrew her with that in mind, and it became a whole lat easier for me. Riding the cloud came from DBZ's Kinto-un, Her weapon similar in function to the original Sun Wukong's staff, and even Eternal Youth is a callback to the Gourd that Sun Wukong used to store things. Sounds cool right? Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was a load of fun to write. **

**Next, we get into the final child, Ruby's son! Take care, leave a follow and fav if you like what you see, review your thoughts and have a good day!**


	5. Chapter R

**AN: And so we reach the final chapter/trailer of the World's Strongest. I'm very sorry for the delay, just been prepping to go to university ;D. For those who are reading this, thank you for having come this far, every view, fav, follow and review count to something. Anyway, I don't own anything except my OC's, and enjoy this new chapter!**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter R**

**Hatred incarnate, son of a Rose!**

* * *

**Riot Pine Rose**

"Nine-hundred and ninety-eight... nine-hundred and ninety nine... one thousand!" I shouted, panting and I collapsed onto the ground face-first. "Finally... I can get to a thousand each!" My abs, legs, arms, back and chest burned like crazy, every breath I took feeling like it wasn't enough. All those sit-ups, squats and pushups really did wonders for improving at a steady rate... but I knew that it would never really be enough. I never had to worry about my stamina, that was pretty much bottomless, I focused everything I had on improving my raw strength and my destructive power. I sat up and crossed my legs, closing my eyes and trying to calm my breathing. I let my pale-white aura flare around me and circulate through my body, rapidly healing most of my soreness but leaving my stamina completely tapped out. "Guess I'll take a little break," I muttered, walking back into the house and snatching a small towel from where it hung off the door. I huffed and towelled the sweat from myself as best as I could, tossing it somewhere as soon as I was done.

It wasn't long before I had drained an entire jug of water, chucking it back in the fridge and slamming it shut. I walked to the bathroom and turned on the sink, gathering water in my hands before splashing it on my face, trying to distract myself from that growing feeling in my chest, like my heart was beginning to heat up. Looking up, I scowled as I realised my mistake. "Why do I keep forgetting about this damn mirror?" Looking at myself, I grit my teeth at the face that stared back at me in the mirror. '_Son of Ruby Rose... and Oscar Pine..._' Staring back at me was that same boyish face that looked so similar to mom. The same jawline, a bit more pronounced, similar cheeks, more masculine. My hair colour, red at the tips fading to black at the roots... the exact same eyes as mom. Silver. I loved that I got those from her. The same eyes that saved the world, and held so much potential in them just for my fate alone that the thought of it was nothing short of thrilling. But despite that... my hands gripped the sink harder, the china already cracking. Lightly tanned skin, just like _him_. Freckles dotting my cheeks. _His_ freckles. The shape of my hair. _His_ hair. "DAMN YOU!" I roared shooting my fist forward, my hand piercing the wall with a loud ***BANG***.

The white aura around my fist flashed black outlined with red for a moment before I managed to calm myself down, even if it was by just a little bit. "... oh shit, mom is gonna be really mad!" I panicked, not sure about what to do next. "I'm not mad Riot," An all too familiar, amused voice said behind me, "Just wondering if that's the fifth or sixth time you punched the same spot."

"MOM!" I cried, leaping at her and wrapping my arms around her tightly, joy racing through me. "I thought you wouldn't be home for another week! How did the mission go?" I asked as I put her down. I couldn't help but smile as I saw that I was still a full head taller than her, and still growing. "C''mon, did you really think that a pack of Goliaths and one King Mammoth would really take me that long? It only took me five days." She looked back at the ruined bathroom wall with a small grin, "And I see that you've been busy... redecorating the house? Gotta say, not a terrible job, but it's a _bit_ repetitive." Embarrassment exploded through me and I scratched the back of my head, mortified that I lost my temper in front of my mom. "Riot, don't worry about it," Mom said softly, "Its more than easy to fix. Come to the kitchen and let's grab a bite to eat. I made your favourite~!"

"COOKIES!" I shouted as soon as I saw them messily laid out on a trey, fresh from the oven. Mom laughed as I immediately ate one whole, groaning as I tasted the chocolate goodness and the doughy tastiness. "Honestly, you're so strange," Mom chuckled, taking a rag and fanning the cookies to cool them down a bit more. "But talk to me, how's your training been going?" I sighed in content as I swallowed another one before I hopped onto a chair. "It's been going great mom, I managed to reach one-thousand pushups, situps, squats, and I can consistently run five miles in thirty minutes or less! Not to mention I've been able to increase my aura control by a good amount."

"Still nothing on your eyes?" Mom guessed.

"Not even an itch," I sighed, pouting.

"Don't be disheartened," Mom encouraged me, "It's insanely rare that any one of our kind unlock it through training. As much as you've been pushing yourself physically, I'm almost certain that it's going to take some kind of mental stress that's going to bring it out. I just honestly hope that it doesn't come to that..." She sighed, and I nodded grimly. She already told me about how she unlocked her eyes years ago during the Fall of Beacon, watching her friend being cremated alive after being shot in the chest. '_Makes me wonder, if my semblance is directly attached to my emotions, what would happen if I snapped? Would my semblance evolve, or would my Silver Eyes awaken?_'

"Whatever the case, I'm just curious what will happen when you get your Silver Eyes," Mom pondered aloud, "Because from what I've read a while back, not every one of us is the exact same. Mine are pretty strong up close, not to mention what I can do with my semblance. But other users had more ranged applications, some with greater destructive power, others more utility."

"Whatever the case, I'm sure that it'll be really, really cool," I said with a grin.

"...What about your semblance?" Mom asked slowly. My mood immediately dropped. I set my jaw and looked away from her with that. "...I mean, the bathroom wall can kinda attest to how that's going," I joked, cracking a bit of a smile as mom let loose a genuine laugh. "Fair enough Riot! Still, I still can't get over the fact that it's so volatile. I mean, I've fought other aura-users before and I've come across some pretty destructive, bizarre and strange abilities, but yours is... probably the most violent that I've encountered." I hid my flinch pretty well from mom, though the sad look in her eyes told me she saw anyway. "Still, I don't doubt that with enough time and practice, you'll be able to control it in no-time! Remember, I had a really hard time using my own semblance when I first unlocked it. I kept running right into walls, I couldn't stop when I needed to, I'd trip up on my own feet, the list goes on."

She gently rubbed my back and she helped me calm down, grinning as she bit into another cookie. "So don't worry about it. Besides, I've got a feeling that Yang might be able to help you with it." I raised a brow at that. "Auntie Yang?"

"Yeah! Before she learned to control her own semblance, she was only able to use it on her last legs or when she got REALLY angry. It took a long time for her to learn how to use it more creatively and effectively." I nodded, the lump in my chest fading at the thought of hope. "... Alright."

"Also, could you leave at least two for your cousin? You know she likes them almost as much as you do," She giggled. I looked down and nearly choked on the cookie in my mouth: I didn't even realise that I had inhaled almost the entire platter, only crumbs and three cookies left. "Oh God, sorry! I-I didn't know-!" Mom burst into laughter as I hid my face in my hands, mortified. "Jeez, you've got an even worse sweet-tooth than me, and that's saying something!" I groaned as mom kissed me on the forehead, flicking some crumbs away from my cheek and mouth. "At least you saved some," She chuckled, "Let's go, I need some with shopping, I've got something special in mind."

**Patch Supermarket, 30 minutes later...**

"I really feel like thirty minutes is a common time-marker for some reason..." I said aloud, idly checking through the fresh meat section. "Dunno, but I feel ya kid," Mom said, stuffing some ice-cream into the basket. "Lean ground beef?" I asked, holding up a pack for her to examine. "Yep, that's perfect," she said as she put that in the basket as well. She then proceeded to stuff another carton of ice-cream into the basket. Not that I was complaining. Because I wasn't. "... mom, is that the third chocolate cookie-dough you just put in the basket?"

"Hush, my child, you know not the true importance of such items."

I snickered and made sure the tub of ice-cream was secured before we made our way to the cashier. "Good afternoon Mr. Ash!" Mom greeted the man at the front. Mr. Ash was always happy to see either of us, a smile on his old face. "Miss Rose, glad to see you back so soon! And Riot, you still look as healthy as a horse," The man laughed, and I grinned a bit shyly. "So what'll it be for the lovely family today?" When mom was putting down our stuff, he raised a brow as he saw the three tubs of ice-cream. "Three's kinda pushing it, don't you think?"

"Y-yeah well... I had a long week," Mom and him laughed while I idly searched through my scroll for any bit of News. '_Huh, potential heir to the SDC is making his way to Beacon. Seems like a pretty smart dude_.' skimming through the article, I raised a brow and leaned in on instinct. '_Chaos Insurgency attack, on the Vacuo Grand Mall. Good lord, part pf the place is trashed!_' I read the article a bit closely, learning that one of the Insurgency higher-ups had been there personally, dropping some kind of modified Grimm right into the Mall itself. '_With the combined effort of High Leader Blake Belladonna and top Hunter Sun Wukong, they managed to dispose of the Grimm with zero casualties,_' I raised a brow as I laid my eyes on the next part. 'T_hough... they mainly give the credit of destroying the Grimm to their daughter?_' There was a blurry picture of her shying away from the camera, but I could see a glimpse of shining blue eyes. '_Nice._'

"Ten in change, and you're good to go," Mr. Ash said jovially. "You two take care now."

"Thank you so much, you take care as well!" I waved a simply goodbye and we were off. On the train-ride back, I ended up opening the News again, the next part made my heart stop. '_Branwen Sky-fleet attacked_!' I blinked and frantically scrolled through the article, terrified at what it could've meant. My cousin Asuka was on the fleet this week for her Work-Experience. '_The heart of the fleet itself was attacked by none-other than the Chaos Insurgency boss himself, who only goes under the name Diavolo. Though nothing was stolen or badly damaged, there was one reported injury. Asuka Arc was cornered and was forced to engage Diavolo, and it comes to some surprise that she is alive. However, she's currently unconscious and under intensive care for a single major and nearly life-threatening injury to her abdomen, though doctors are confident that she will make a rapid and full recovery._'

"Holy shit," I sighed in relief, slumping in my seat. Mom, curious from my outburst peeked over at my screen and her eyes went wide. "My gods..." She quickly whipped out her own scroll and dialled a number even faster. "... Yang? God, I just saw the news, is Asuka okay?" I scooted close, listening intensely. "...Okay, that's a relief." At that, I managed to relax slightly. I never really trusted the news like that, so to know that Asuka was actually alright from Auntie Yang herself was a relief. "Two weeks? Gods, what kind of damage did she take from him? ...Her aura broken in one shot?!" That one caught me off guard. I guess I didn't take the Insurgency leader seriously enough: I've fought her at full tilt several times, and we're tied up on wins and losses, but even with every clean blow I've landed, I have never taken out that much aura from her. Granted, if I was using my semblance, that might be a different story, but I still doubt I'd be able to send her to the hospital for two whole freaking _weeks_ in one punch.

"I'm still glad to hear that she'll be fine. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that Jaune is still blubbering over her?" I could faintly hear Auntie Yang sigh before she pulled the phone away from her ear, incredibly manly crying in the background. "...I'll take that as a yes then. Anyway, you take care sis." Mom sighed and put her scroll away, sighing and closing her eyes. "Mom," I said after a moment, "She'll be fine. Asuka is the toughest girl I know, she's gonna be back on her feet in no time." She breathed out slowly, trying to let the worry out. "I'm not sure Riot. When someone was prideful as her gets taken down so easily, sometimes it... changes people. My sister was the same, when she got her arm chopped off." The thought of a hyper-aggressive, incredibly surly Asuka was... a terrifying thought. "...Well, I'm pretty sure that it won't be too serious," I reassured her, and myself.

"Aaaanyway, why did you buy all this ice-cream and sweet stuff? That's a bit much, even for the two of us."

"Would you prefer if I took them back?"

"Never mind then!" I said quickly. She snickered and tousled my hair, just as we finally pulled up to our stop. I was really glad that the train station led almost right next to our neighbourhood, and right now with my legs still a bit sore, so I had no motivation to walk anymore than I had to. The walk to the house was uneventful, minus the still sore legs, but it was once we got to the house that the afternoon got much more interesting. "So your lowest grade is still math?" Mom asked with a grin, and I nearly tore my hair out. "Friggin'-! I just keep screwing up on the double-formula sections! That stuff is just plain ridiculous!" She was about to laugh, but as soon as her hand touched the doorknob, we both froze. The door was already open. I closed my eyes and let my senses extend: I could feel only one person inside, searching for something. They were armed, but relaxed, showing no signs that they heard us. I quietly gave the signal to mom that there was one target, motioning for her to open the door on my count. The intruder took their sweet time, but eventually they seemed to give up, pretty frustrated before walking to the door.

As soon as they got close, mom swung the door open and I charged forward, fist cocked back. He looked so shocked that he just didn't have time to respond. "OPEN WIDE ASSHOLE!" My knuckles smashed into his face hard enough to blast a few teeth from his mouth. Before he got to far, I stepped in and grabbed him by his collar, twisting my body and throwing him clean over my hip to crash into the street outside, concrete cracking as he hacked up bile. He was quick to leap to his feet, drawing a simple but well-made gunblade and pointing it at me, firing it with no hesitation. My fist shot forward on its own, sending the dust-round right back into his chest and almost knocking him down again. Snarling, I shot forward and dodged his panicked shots, my foot lashing out to his chest. His aura flared and he desperately blocked, his body flung down the street with ease. '_He's surprisingly weak._' He turned tail and attempted to run away, but I grinned and picked up an empty metal trashcan, tossing it as hard as I could, almost shuddering in satisfaction as it went ***CLANG*** on his head, flinging him right into the floor.

'_Looks like I won't need to use my Semblance or even get serious for that matter. Still need to be careful through in case he tries to pull anything stupid._' He tried to get to his feet again but mom was already on him, her boot right on his chest and a small sickle of red aura in her hand pointed at his face.

"Are you an Insurgent?" She asked calmly, aura roiling off of her body. The man silently shook his head, dropping his weapon and completely relaxing. That surprised the two of us, and I couldn't help but be more on edge. "Riot, check him but keep your aura up," Mom said coldly. "He tries anything, knock him out cold." I nodded and quickly came up to him, only finding a scroll in one of his pockets and a single extra cartridge of ammunition in the other. "...Yeah, there's no way he's an Insurgent," I said to mom. "His weapon is pretty well made, but every Insurgent carries at least one extremely high-grade weapon that can tear down a building. This thing is nowhere near that."

"...Okay. So why are you in our house? That weapon is still way too high-quality for someone like you to just be here to rob us." The man was quiet for a moment and I snarled, grabbing him by his shirt and bodily lifting him off the ground. "My mom wasn't the one to go after you. You know why?" I asked. No reply, save for his fearful eyes. "Because if she was the one to take you out, it would be a mercy. Me? I won't hesitate to punch your head clean from your shoulders. Now ANSWER!"

"It was your father!" He cried out fearfully, "He... he wanted me to find a document and destroy it! Something to do with an Acceptance-Confirmation!" I was angry before. As in, _seething_. But the moment I heard 'father' thrown at me, I blanked out for a moment, my ears deaf to everything else. I didn't scream. But my soul screamed and my _aura_ screamed with it, and my mind wanted blood on my hands for that bastard trying to worm his way back into our lives to break it once more, and I wanted to _break_ him like he did us and _destroy_ him like he did to mom and- "...Acceptance Letter?" I muttered, my aura slowly fading away as I looked at him in confusion. "Gosh dangit," Mom muttered, scratching her cheek with a pensive and cheeky look on her face. I dropped him and my heart soared, but I tried to squash it, telling myself it was too good a lie to be remotely true. "M-mom...? Is that why... why you bought all that sugary crap?" She looked into my eyes, utter joy and pride in her shining eyes as she put her hands on my shoulders. "Th-this is just a big prank, isn't it? There's no way that asshole would even consider accepting my application, s-so why-!?"

"Riot," She cut me off. "He doesn't do the paperwork." My face twisted up and tears flooded my eyes, and I hugged mom as hard as I could. "You're going to Beacon Riot. I already confirmed your attendance, and there's nothing he can do to stop you from taking the entrance exam now." I cried harder and hugged her tighter. '_Finally_,' I thought, pride and anticipation racing through me. '_I can finally prove to him that I'm worthy. I don't what he thinks about my Semblance, I don't care how dangerous he thinks I am. I'll crawl and struggle all the way to the top, and I won't stop until I reach him!_'

(To Be Continued...)

* * *

**Curious at the lack of fighting? Well, I'm saving Riot's higher combat capabilities for another time. Hopefully, I'm dropping enough hints or clues as to how dangerous he really is, because it partially boils down to his relationship with Oscar. As to what made Oscar discard Riot?... you should be able to figure that out. I think. Maybe. XD**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll be working on releasing the next chapter as soon as I can! Be sure to review so I know how you guys feel about the direction of the story, and leave a Follow and Fav if you like what you see. Take care! **


	6. Stage Set

**A.N: Sooo hello everyone! Finally, we're at the true beginning of the story. Hopefully everyone has been enjoying the story so far, and I hope you guys enjoy the true first chapter of Second Song!**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 1**

**A new stage**

* * *

**Asuka **

I slung my bag from over my shoulder and onto the ground as soon as I stepped out of the airship. '_So this is it huh? The school mom went to._' My eyes travelled around, mostly ignoring the sight of Beacon Academy in front of me and analysing everyone else. I almost spat in disgust at the majority of them. '_God, they're so weak!_' I ground my teeth but kept walking forward, keeping my eyes on each of them. '_Nobody. There's nobody here who can push me past my limits, who can help me get stronger. Just a bunch of useless hopefuls and half-baked prodigies who've never felt what it's like to dance on the edge, to taste death._' I shuddered and my mind blanked out for a bit, my hand instinctively going to the ragged scar on my stomach. I bit my lip hard and pushed that feeling of fear deep down, locking it away and becoming myself again. I saw some people staring at me, at my scar that I bared openly. Some of them looked pale, or shocked, or scared. I couldn't fight the grin on my face. '_Let them look. Let them see what it means to risk your life._'

"Bunch of pussies," I snorted aloud, pushing through them and ignoring the angry glares and shouts. '_Still have half an hour until the opening ceremony. No need to rush, so might as well check around the place._' It was only natural, but I was impressed. Beacon academy was without a doubt an incredible place to be. Blue skies, towering structures reinforced with dust, and not to mention the sculpture of a giant dragon that rested snugly right on top of the Headmaster's tower. Ever since the Academy was rebuilt, everything was now super-reinforced. The defensive walls around Beacon served as a solid line of protection, almost a hundred meters thick all around, heavy and light automated cannons posted on the tops and outsides. The four entrances were thin enough that only two people standing shoulder-to-shoulder could pass through, a bottleneck for any invasion force, not to mention the meter thick Titansteel gates at each opening that could open and close on command. The academy itself lost none of its awesome vibe while being much more subtly defensive.

All the walls were reinforced, and had small but powerful nodes of hardlight dust in the case it was overrun. The doors weren't just wood: their insides were also dense Titansteel, so they were harder to break than normal, even for me. Headmaster Oscar put it a certain way: this was a Beacon of strength, for what it had become. A Beacon of hope, for the heroes it moulded and created. And a Beacon of Rebirth, for what it gone through, a solemn reminder of the past. Honestly, I had mixed feelings about Uncle Oscar. He was insanely powerful, more than enough to negate my mom's raw power. He was responsible for ensuring every student here was up to scratch, a new line of warriors to defend mankind. Hell, he and Aunt Ruby had helped saved the damn world (though mom always brags that it was her and dad who made sure that Salem with properly pinned down before they beat her). By all accounts, he was a true hero, and had the political and literal power to back it up. At the same time however... '_I wish Riot was here,_' I sighed to myself sadly. We were cousins, but he might as well have been my brother. He was the only person my age that I'd admit (not gladly mind you, he just got lucky a couple of times) that I've lost to.

Riot wasn't just strong, we was a freaking crackhead when it come to working. He studied like a maniac, practised like an addict, and God, he worked himself to near death whenever he could. But Uncle Oscar? He divorced Aunt Ruby almost soon after Riot was born, and had done everything legally possible to make sure that Riot never became a Hunter. So, I was torn between being in awe of him and wanting to throttle him as soon as I saw him. Probably both. "You look like you're thinking too much." I whirled around and put my guard up, caught by surprise as I looked up into a tree. '_She's dangerous,_' Was my first thought as soon as I saw her. She was casually laying down on a platform made of some kind of grey cloud, utterly relaxed. Confident. Ebony hair was up in a messy ponytail, openly revealing a lightly tanned and beautiful face. Her cat-like eyes were a shocking blue, cheekbones slightly accentuated, perfectly sized lips curved up in a cheeky smile. Her body under her cape-like jacket and skintight pants wasn't heavy with muscle, but well toned and finely trained for graceful strength, like the black monkey-like tail swinging behind her. She looked untouched. Yet, I could also see the messy, jagged scar on her forehead pointing down at her left eyebrow. I saw the numerous little healed scrapes on her arms and stomach and other bits of exposed skin. The aura that I didn't sense before was now on display, wisps of grey gently trailing off of her. She wasn't one for raw power, but...

'_She's not soft. She comes off as relaxed, because she's confident in her own abilities. That cloud too, part of her semblance?_' I grinned and relaxed, putting my hands down. '_I like her._'

"Thinking helps me," I replied offhandedly.

"But it distracted you just now," She pointed out with that same cheeky grin. "You didn't notice me."

"You didn't want to be noticed," I shot back, smirking as she sighed in defeat.

"Fair enough. Terra Wukong," She said, holding a hand out. I took it and was surprised with her firm grip first before her last name caught up to me. "Huh, so you're the one who kicked that Grimm's ass huh? Cool. Asuka Arc." Her own eyebrow raised up, genuine respect in her eyes. "I'm surprised you're already up and about." I felt a slight tickling sensation around my stomach and looked down, seeing a small layer of mist drifting around my stomach. It almost felt like a hand, touching me, curious yet gentle. '_So a Stand type huh? There's some kind of ironic joke here._'

"Whatever stabbed you wasn't a simple blade. Something this jagged and uneven... you're tough. At least, you're tougher now."

'_She's good,_' I thought, impressed at her intuition. "I mean, I wouldn't exactly go feeling you up to try and find out, but I think you seem pretty tough yourself." She laughed, soft and almost willowy before she motioned me to walk with her. We were quiet for a while, though it wasn't awkward or tense being around her. She had such a relaxed, laid-back confidence to her that I couldn't help but loosen up around her as well. "So," I started after a moment, "Why are you here? I heard Vacuo Academy is pretty good this time around, especially considering that your dad's running the place really well."

"_Nobody_ runs Vacuo Academy," She chuckled, "And my dad just kinda fumbles his way through being the Headmaster. Honestly, I have no clue how he manages to stay on top of his game. But, I came here because... well, it seemed like I could find a good challenge." I raised a brow at that. "Not trying to blow my own horn," She laughed, "But I'm pretty good when it comes to combat. I want to see how far I can go with what I have right now, and to be honest, I think that I'll be alright."

"So you want to push your limits then?"

"Exactly," She answered, swiftly and confidently.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to have you as a partner," I chuckled before I sneered at everyone else. "Everyone here is just... weak. All of them are just-"

"Green hopefuls who think that killing a small pack of Beowolves is a massive accomplishment? Yeah, I know," She sighed, also visibly irritated. "I'm lazy as hell, but even I know that you'll be put on the chopping-block sooner or later. It's gonna be your head on the line if you aren't ready. I wouldn't trust half of these idiots with a rescue mission, much less my own life. They haven't faced something overwhelmingly strong and triumphed with what they have. Unlike you." I looked at her a bit blankly at that. "You may not have won, but you _survived_," She said plainly, "And now you're stronger from it." I was silent for a while, and she let me think to myself. I had never really seen it that way, but the way she said it... "...yeah. Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it." I was so lost in thought again that I almost bumped into someone else, had Terra no yanked me out of the way and barely making us brush.

"O-oh, sorry 'bout that," I said, before realising that I was looking at her upper stomach. Raising a brow, I craned my head up, impressed at her shocking height. She must have been at least six-foot, her body brimming with power. Simple brown shorts showed off her muscular legs, even more than my own considering my fighting-style. A skintight long-sleeve black shirt that only came down to her sternum did nothing to hide her impressive physique, both muscular and womanly. At that, I paused and indulged in a bit of jealousy, because she looked damn fine. She was undeniably gorgeous, a mane of wavy auburn hair flowing down to her back, chocolate brown eyes, and a finely shaped face that boasted shapely lips and a fine nose. Where Terra was calm and relaxed, she was overflowing with confidence, her eyes glinting almost dangerously. She was experienced too, if the numerous cuts all across her body had anything to say. Though, the adorable rabbit-ears on her head did kind of break the intimidating aura she was exuding.

"No sweat," She smirked, leaning down to look at me. Something about that sort of set me off. "Hey, I think I've seen you before! Aren't you the girl that got her ass kicked by the Insurgency Leader?" I clenched my fist and took a step forward, keeping my voice low. "Maybe, why the hell do you care?"

"Just curious, you know? From all the talk surrounding you being the kid of Arc, I didn't expect you to be weak." At that, something hot scalded my chest and I leapt forward, shooting my foot into a blistering roundhouse at her head. She grinned and shot a single fist forward with the exact same speed. I almost followed through, but something felt off about her punch, and I managed to halt my momentum, the two of us stopping barely an inch away from each other's faces. "...Hmph, good to see it isn't all hype," She said honestly, retracting her hand and standing up straight. I put my foot down, managing to calm myself down. "You're pretty ballsy, calling me out like that," I snorted, "I could have damn well kicked your head off."

"If you did that, I would've knocked your soul from your body!" She laughed, loud and booming before looking at me with a hint of begrudging respect. "The name's Crystal Winchester. Hope I get to see more of you around Arc," She said as she walked off. "Ooh, she's dangerous," Terra said with a small grin. "She'd be a good addition to a team, wouldn't you think?" I snorted, but honestly I was impressed. "Yeah. She's fast, and considering her size, she hits hard. But she's got good control over herself. If she isn't in our team, she'll definitely be a threat when it comes to the rankings."

"You almost sound worried," Terra chuckled, hands in her pockets.

"Worried? Please," I laughed, "I've faced people way stronger than her, and I'm not just talking about Diavolo." My mind drifted back to my cousin, the image of him standing over me with a bloody face and a massive smile, a hand outstretched to help me up. "...Do you get lost in thought this often?" She teased, poking my cheek. I chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "Normally no. I guess being here... kinda has me thinking a bit more than I normally do."

"That _mildly_ worries me," She said.

"What, the part where I'm thinking too _much_, or the insinuation that I don't think at _all_?"

"_Yes_."

I burst into laughter, slapping her on the back as she grinned. "Alright, that was really good... oh damn, look at the time." The opening ceremony was gonna start in a handful of minutes, and I was about to tell Terra, only to find her napping on a cloud. "Are you serious?" I sighed, grabbing her cloud (somehow) and dragging her along to the main place was absolutely packed with new blood, excitement palpable in the air, and surprisingly enough to wake Terra up. People were murmuring with open excitement, some staring expectantly at the stage for the big speech. I opted to lean on Terra's cloud and wait it out, examining everyone else. '_Weak... also weak... decent, therefore weak..._' My eyes caught up to someone at the far end of the hall, and what I saw interested me. Tall, lean and perfectly poised, his snow-white hair tied in an immaculate ponytail. His angular face schooled in an expression of absolute control, icy blue eyes the definition of control. It was never a difficult task trying to identify Wolfram Schnee. Granted, he was the only person in here wearing a midnight-blue suit with a crisp white dress-shirt underneath.

Though, this was the first time I'd ever seen him in person. At first glance, his aura _seemed_ barely decent enough, but looking closer, I could feel that there was... _something_ else he had, something that he wasn't necessarily holding back, just something _new _that I had never really experienced in a person's aura. '_I'll definitely have to keep tabs on whatever that is,_' I thought. Then, _he_ arrived. You just knew that he was here, even if we couldn't actually see him. We knew he was in the building, walking up to the podium, solely because of how _vast_ his presence was, how he, without saying a word, without making a sound, was simply _demanded_ the attention of everyone in the room.

When he appeared, everyone was silent as they took in his appearance. Youthful and spry, was everyone's initial thoughts. In the dark green suit with the small silver buttons, I could see the lean, cut figure that rested beneath. His stance was that of a warrior's, powerful and ready, but also like a leader's, smart and calculating. Yet, it was his amber-freckled green eyes that completely captivated everyone. Sharp, attentive, all seeing, wise beyond his years. It gave birth to the idea that even if someone cloned him, copied him down to the very last cell, you could still tell which one was authentic. '_Yup, looks like I'm in a go-screw-yourself mood today,_' I thought, biting back a scowl and clenching my fist hard, trying not to leap onto the stage and deck him across the face. "...Potential." That was his first word after he looked over all of us, the room dead silent. "Currently, that's all I see in this crowd. Neither wasted or fulfilled, you are all still the barest sparks of potential that could feed the light that is our current, albeit fragile peace. Most of you are fleeting little wisps, but others..." Even if I hated the man, the swell of pride in my chest wasn't something I could deny as his eyes momentarily locked onto some of us, including mine. "... have bright, lively sparks. Regardless, the question I pose to you for the next three years remains the same: will your spark, now matter how bright, sputter and fade? Or will you ignite and banish the shadows, Grimm or otherwise, illuminating the future of our world?"

The atmosphere of the room had changed. Everyone was still silent, but the raw determination and drive in the room was practically palpable. '_We may all have different strengths, but it looks like everyone is here for the same reason, but still,_' I vaguely saw Terra looking at me with a concerned look on her face from how hard I was grinding my teeth, '_Riot had the exact same reason, and a thousand times more drive than some of these chumps._' Despite my thoughts, he looked pleased with the reception before he relaxed, actually grinning. "Besides that, I don't really have much else to say, didn't really plan much of an inspirational speech." The tense atmosphere broke, and most of the others laughed. "Anyway, Initiation starts at 9:00 tomorrow. Make sure you're all awake and fully prepared by then. The Hall as usual will be your current sleeping quarters for tonight, and as such, please do not start any fights or destroy any property. Have a pleasant day, and I hope to see you all pass our initiation."

"Where are we supposed to meet for the test? Is it the cliff?" One boy asked, and fairly enough. Oscar only grinned wider. "No. Just be ready before the clock hits 9:00." That immediately scared the shit out of almost everyone, though I couldn't help but be a bit curious and excited. "That was freaking ominous," Terra yawned, curling up on her cloud again, almost exactly like a cat. "...Terra, you're a monkey-Faunus, right?" She nodded lazily, not even bothering to open her eyes. "Why the hell do you act just like a cat?"

"Because cat's have the best lifestyle," She sighed, "They casually kill and eat the best shit, are top-tier predators, and get to sleep for over half of their life. It's awesome." I thought that was pretty much fair enough, and people had started to file out of the building. Someone looked like they were in a hurry and rushed right past me, their shoulder bumping against mine. I was going to shout, but even though he was concealed by his black hoodie, there was an all too familiar feeling from his aura. They flinched too and paused, almost turning to look back at me. "R-!" His arm shot out and quickly pushed my shoulder, nearly knocking me off balance had Terra's cloud not caught me. By the time I got my feet under me, he was gone. "Did you know him?" Terra asked curiously.

"...Yeah," I said after a moment, and I just couldn't stop grinning. "Yeah, you could definitely say that."

**Later in the evening...**

'_There's no way I can sleep like this!_' I groaned to myself, tossing and turning as I tried to tune out all the people still talking and horsing around. '_How can you fuck around late at night knowing one of the biggest tests of your life starts tomorrow!?_' Looking over at Terra, I raised a brow as soon as I realised that she was already fast asleep, even though she had just barely thrown her blanket over herself. '_At least she's got the right idea,_' I huffed, sitting up and fixing her cover. "Thx," She muttered before curling into a ball on her cloud-bed. A pillow nearly hit me in the face soon after, my hand shooting out to snatch it and toss it back hard, beaning one of the dudes who had thrown it here in the first place. "Hey, check her out!" One of them said, the tallest of the bunch with blue hair and blue eyes, "She's a looker!" The other two, including the guy I had just hit with a pillow openly ogled me. I snickered and admittedly relished the attention: I might have been in tights and a longsleeve shirt, but I had more than enough of a figure to fill them out (even if I wasn't as stacked as mom). "You three have a lot of balls catcalling a girl who can kick your collective asses in under a minute," I challenged proudly, lightly flexing my sunset-yellow aura.

"Ooh, she's a feisty one," A guy with white hair and eyes said as they walked over to me. "Yeah no shit, Whit, you just threw a pillow right at her face," The other one to his right said, red haired and red eyed grouched before turning apologetically towards me. "Sorry about that. Name's Rouge, you already hit Elton, and that's Daryl." I laughed at the weird sense of deja-vu that overcame me at the moment. "What, so Red, White and Blue? Aren't those the same colours as Vacuo's old flag like, two hundred years ago? Anyway, gotta sleep now, so you three cut the noise and maybe I'll spare you."

"Aw come on babe~!" Daryl whined, "You haven't even told us your name!"

"Find out tomorrow, I need to sleep," I said a bit more forcefully, slightly scaring Elton and Rouge, but the big idiot didn't seem to get the point. "Hey, I'm making it my mission to find out who you are right here and right now! Why'd you gotta be so rude?" Now I was getting pissed. "Rude? You've been keeping me and a lot of other people up with your shit. Let me sleep or I'll punch your lights out for you!"

"That is **enough** you two." He was strong. That was my first and lasting impression of who he was. He slowly sat up from his sleeping-bag, the blanket falling off of him to reveal a boy about a year older than me, his tanned body full of natural and built muscle, a tell-tale sign that he must have been in some kind of militia, Central-Vacuan if his skin was any indicator. A jawline that was rigid, a youthful face with hard deep-blue eyes, and long blonde hair that ended in circular curls around his upper back. Speaking of which, his back was _littered_ with thick, old scars. What was disturbing was that they were in a really familiar pattern: fifty spots of carved out or burnt flesh, and twenty or more lines across his back right from the bottom of his neck to the very top of his tailbone. '_That's the Old Vacuan Flag! Did he take part in the Civil War? If he did, how old was he when he got scars that big?' _He stood up, and I felt my face go a bit red: he _was_ an incredibly handsome shirtless guy walking right towards me. "The three of you started an altercation and are keeping those who wish to sleep awake. It would be in your best interest to apologise."

He turned his rigid, unyielding eyes to me, and I felt like I was like a deer in headlights. "I'm fairly certain that the Headmaster said that fighting is strictly prohibited, even if a cause as petty as this is enough to rile your emotions up." That soured my mood quickly again, and I took a step forward, getting right in his perfectly shaped face. "They threw shit at me and that blue asshole keeps harassing me for my name! All four of you can go fuck off, all I want is to go to sleep and get ready for the test tomorrow!" His eyes suddenly softened a bit as he came to a realisation. "... so you feel that your heart is unclouded, your actions justified?" The sudden shift in his previously hard tone to one of admiration threw me for a bit of a loop. "Y-yeah."

"Then I apologise for standing in your way," He concluded, bowing slightly. '_I am so confused right now._'

"Yeah, he talks like that a lot," Elton sighed. "He's from the oldest and most influential parts of Vacuo, where they've got all those ideals of freedom and stuff. Those scars on his back are..." He paused and actually looked at Valentine for permission. "Feel free to talk about them," He said, pride in every cell of his body practically shining. "I'm proud to have these scars, and prouder still to know where I got them from." Elton nodded again, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "...W-well, everyone knows about the Civil War that's been rocking Vacuo before and after Salem's fall. Valentine volunteered to join the army when he was fifteen. Freaking _fifteen_, can you believe it!? Well, one time when..." He paused again, and he looked like he genuinely couldn't speak. "...I'm sorry, I just can't say the next part. It just doesn't feel right coming from me." Valentine pat him on the back with a small smile. "Don't worry about it. I will continue."

He turned to me, and the honest-to-god pride radiating from him was almost blinding. "One month after I joined the Royal Vacuan Army, my company was ambushed by a larger and more well-armed confederate force. We were forced out into the desert, left to starve, dry up and wither away. Everyone in my company who didn't die from the initial ambush died from exposure while we tried to find supplies. I kept walking for god-knows how long, and eventually, I did collapse from hunger, thirst, and heat-exposure. It was there that... I found something. To this day, I do not know what is was."

'_He's lying about that,_' I immediately thought, '_Or at least he isn't telling the whole truth._'

"Whatever it was, I unlocked my both my aura and Semblance, and I was temporarily saved. Of course, it didn't help that I had an accidental run-in with a Confederate Camp while wearing my militia outfit. They beat and whipped me for a weeks, doing their best to keep my aura constantly drained."

"...You're telling the truth," I muttered, almost horrified. He might have lied about what he found in the desert, but everything else was entirely true. His aura held no other lie, and was filled with the same prideful conviction that his voice held. "Yes. And I endured. I endured as my father before me had, right up until he died at their hands," He said sombrely, reaching into his pocket and taking a handkerchief out. "This is the last remaining piece of him, one that he held onto right as he died, to ensure that I would receive it. His patriotism is something I will forever hold dear, and why I joined the army."

"How the hell did you escape?" At that he smiled, a small but incredibly mischievous thing. "Well, the guards one day must have been held up with something, and they made the mistake of letting me regenerate enough aura to use my Semblance." I was utterly hooked on his story now, asking, "What is your semblance?" His smile turned a bit wider, and he grabbed a stray blanket, throwing it onto himself... and completely vanishing. I blinked, thinking it was a trick, before I realised that was gone. Not a single trace of him in the room. Until- "_Dojyaaa~n._" I nearly yelped and nearly threw a punch as he appeared right behind me, popping out from underneath Terra's cloud (she didn't even wake up). "You have a Warp-Type Semblance? Those are super rare!"

"Oh, it's not a exactly a warp-type." His baby-blue and pink-outlined out gently glowed around him, and a very familiar feeling washed over me for the third time within a day. Looming right over him was a humanoid figure, dressed in what looked like baby-blue leather stitched together perfectly with light pink seams across its entire body. It's shoulder-plating was also the same shade of pink, yet what really caught my attention were the large, upright horns that seemed to resemble a rabbit's ears. "This is my Stand, **[Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap]**. So long as I am in between two objects, I can have access and travel to anywhere else that has an in-between space. Just call it D4C for short."

'_That makes four people,_' I thought as I stood speechless. '_I've run into four strong people today, four more than I thought I'd ever run into in Beacon. Gods know how many more of them there are that are just hiding their power._' I grinned wide as my blood slowly began to boil. The thought of getting stronger, pushing myself to the tipping point to finally catch up to him, the _bastard_ who gave me the scar on my stomach... '_This is going to be a good three years._'

**To be continued...**

* * *

**A.N: So, where have I been fro the past month? Well, not gonna pull anyone's leg and apologise for the long wait. Old laptop broke down and had to move to University in the meantime, so adjusting took a bit of time. What took even LONGER was getting a damn laptop, which I now have one. Anyway, a month later and the official Chapter 1 has finally been released. Hope everyone reading this at least enjoyed, and see you guys next time!**


	7. Opening Act

**A.N: Aw shit, here we go again.**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 2 **

**Opening Act, The Entrance Exam**

* * *

**Wolfram**

'_Body slowly waking up. Consciousness returning. Any muscle-damage from training?_' As I slowly woke up, I twitched my fingers, arms, chest, back, abs, quads, calves. '_Zero. No stomach pains, no illnesses..._' My eyes flashed open, and I leapt to my feet, excitement racing through me. '_Let's get this show started!_' I scared the hell out of everyone around me as I near-frantically gathered my sleeping-gear and threw some clothes on my shoulder, rushing to the communal showers. "Dammit," I muttered, noticing some people were already washing up. "Gotta get ready quick, then need to find some food to eat," I sighed, stripping off and hopping to the shower. The rush of hot water woke me up even further and let me relax at the same time, opening up my blood-vessels and improving the circulation of my blood and allowing me to think more clearly. "Okay, so all my Nanites have been fully repaired, and I've got enough extra dust to last me for three days of combat straight. So long as I don't lose any of my nanites and if they don't get too badly damaged, they should be able to self-repair and I won't have to worry about spending obscene amounts of money on repairs. And in the case things get really hairy, I still have my two fall-backs." There was a familiar, tingling sensation in my eyes, one that felt almost eager. "If it comes down to _that_, then victory is guaranteed for me and the team I end up on." Checking the time, I quickly finished up on cleaning myself, putting on my clothes and admiring my new 'weapon'. After my sparring match my mom, I had opted to try and further size-down the storage of my nano-armour: I wouldn't be carrying a backpack or a big jacket around with me everywhere, and while I was confident in my own ability to defend myself, lugging around a back full of nanobots wasn't exactly smart.

So here was my new solution: a slightly thick longsleeve 'shirt', black in colour and form-fitting in shape. What made it special were the several metallic nodes containing the all-too-rare Dust Cores, a form of dust that could only be found within the centre of old, massive dust-deposits. The energy within them was practically limitless, the Core itself never being used up, though overuse would drain its respective energy for a period of time, where it would naturally recharge on its own. The material of the shirt itself was an aura-conductive kevlar, in case something broke past my armour, and not to mention the shirt itself could absorb almost all of my Nanites thanks to some extra storage that was sewn into the fabric. Simple, but incredibly effective. '_Still have no damn clue what to call this thing though,_' I sighed internally, slipping it on and grinning at how comfortable it was. "I'm ready." It didn't take long at all to jog down to the mess-hall, which was mostly empty save for a handful of other early-risers. I was distracted for a moment as I scanned the room and nearly bumped right into another shorter guy who was walking past me. "Oh! Sorry about that," I apologised.

"Yeah, just watch where you're going next time," He said lowly, his expression hidden by his hoodie. I thought he was either grouchy or trying to act tough, but the reserved body-language and the way his muscles seemed bunched up under his clothes told me something else: he was nervous. Nervous and waiting. "...Yeah, that's my fault," I apologised again after a moment, deciding to try an lend a hand out to someone. "Do you know what I should get to eat? Honestly the menu here is so large that I get lost," I chuckled, hoping he'd respond. It took him a moment as he stood on the spot, fidgeting before he nodded, awkwardly gesturing for me to follow him. "What is it that you're looking for?"

"Hmm," I wondered for a moment, "I don't want something greasy or heavy, but I need something filling enough for the test." He seemed to think for a moment before he came to a decision. "I'd say go for the boiled eggs, bread and orange juice. Great for slow-burn carbs and the juice is great for a little sugar-rush."

"Thanks!" I chuckled, patting him on the back. "Honestly I just don't know what to eat sometimes." He nodded silently, but he didn't hide his small, understanding grin. "...Yeah, I kinda get you. Though, today is a bit of an exception. Need to have every advantage that I can."

"Technically, everyone is given equal chances during the test," I pointed out. He flinched, and I could tell that his muscles bunched up again, this time in actual anger, though he did well to try and hide it. "...Yeah, technically." His angry aura shifted quickly back to a nervous one, though he smirked again. "Although, you aren't one to be talking about unfair advantages, Schnee." I laughed at that one, he did have a fair point since I had a multi-billion dollar industry backing me up. "Are you discriminating against me for being rich? If so, I feel very insulted right now," I pouted, "I would fan my face with some fat stacks right now, but they're all in the bank!" At that one, he had to hold back a laugh, like he was intentionally trying to stay hidden from everyone else. "...You're surprisingly more relaxed than I thought you'd be," He said, a bit more relaxed around me. "Was kinda expecting a stuck-up snob."

"Oh don't get me wrong, if you think it's a good idea to screw with me then I will gladly mess with you to the fullest extent that I can. Also, just call me Wolfram. We're in the same year after-all, and we're probably going to be working closely for the next three years," I said as I held out a hand. He hesitated again, and though I couldn't see his face, I could tell from the small shifts in his body that he was actively looking around to make sure nobody else was listening. "...My name is Riot," He said simply, finally showing his face. My mouth dried up in surprise as I realised why he was hiding his face. Silver eyes. Red-tipped hair. Tanned skin. A light dash of freckles on a boyish face. "...Huh. Cool."

"...Cool?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool that you're here," I said, being honest to him. "Granted that you're taking one hell of a risk with you being even in the same building as your dad." His eyes went wide as he almost frantically turned to look at me. "Wait, you _know_? _How_?" I looked at him and grinned, lightly flicking him on the head much to his annoyance. "Dude, our mothers were on the same freaking team, and took down the world's most powerful villain together, _and_ are besties. They talk to each other about everything. And in turn, my mom kinda warned me about the Headmaster, and how he... y'know." He grunted and nodded, looking down but unable to hide the anger on his face in time. "I still look up to him, you know?" I said openly, getting ready to be punched fully in the face. "He's still one of the strongest and most influential people in the world. He's an outstanding member of society and regularly goes out of his way." I could feel the boiling anger nearly pouring off of him, and I was sure that he was going to hit me. "... Still doesn't change the fact that he's a prick." That one caught him so off guard that it was like someone had popped a balloon, and he nearly laughed again. "Wh-wait, come again?"

"Yeah, he's a prick!" I concluded firmly. "You can be good at one thing and bad at another. Look at me for example: billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Give me some random numbers and I can come up with a new genius formula in a day. _Still_ can't cook for shit though."

"Y-yeah, that's fair," He said after a moment, considerably calmer than before. I put a hand on his shoulder and grinned, letting him know exactly how I felt. "Regardless, all you have to do is pass the Exam, and there isn't anything that anybody can say that'll deny your right to be here. Even the Headmaster." He had finally relaxed, his previous nervousness gone and now replaced with calm, determined readiness. "...Thanks. I think I really needed that."

"Glad to help buddy," I chuckled, patting his shoulder.

"So are you going to get food or just stand around?" A very impatient lunch-lady sighed, almost threateningly holding a spatula up like a sword. '_Way to kill the mood lady._'

**Some time later...**

"Keep your wits about you, and adjust to whatever gets thrown your way," I muttered, bouncing on my toes and flexing my fingers. Pretty much everyone was awake now, all strapped up in their combat gear and ready to go. There was such a wide and interesting array of weapons being held at the ready. Some had simple tools, from swords to spears to axes. Others had the more common dual-function that was a staple in our world. Cleavers turning to assault-rifles, halberds doubling up as snipers, crossbows into scimitars. What surprised me was the uniqueness of some weaponry that I hadn't seen before. Molten Chains wrapped around someones forearms, a sword that split into seven winding spikes, even a straight-up flag with zero combat additions. '_I'm almost shocked,_' I thought, '_If it's going to be everyone going for one specific objective, how are we going to form teams? I knew it would be random as hell, but this seems odd, even for Headmaster Oscar._' Glancing around, I was concerned that I didn't see Riot anywhere. Still hiding maybe? Either way, I had no doubt that he'd end up in the test regardless.

"**Future students of Beacon Academy,**" A voice boomed through the air, everyone startled. "**Your test will begin shortly. As is the tradition of the Entrance Examination, teams will be created at complete random. The first person which you make eye-contact with after your landing...**"

'_Landing?_'

"**...will be your partner for the next four years. And when a pair makes eye contact with another pair, an official team is thus formed. _If_ you pass, of course**." A wave of nervous murmurs spread throughout the crowd, and it got me thinking even harder. '_Shit, that's actually going to be really difficult. I'll need to match up both with my partner and a brand new team on the fly. Still..._' I grinned and couldn't stop bouncing on my feet, '_This is going to be fun!_'

"**Naturally, it isn't going to be so easy,**" Oscar said, "**You will naturally have one major objective throughout a single hour, the time-frame for this test: _survive_.**" That sent a collective shudder though everyone. "**You all will have to face consistent waves of enemies. Some of which are, but not limited to, the newest brands of Atlesian Military scouting androids, assault androids, Paladins, Centurions, and Upper C-class Grimm... among other things. Should you find your aura broken, you can still choose to continue, however, _do_ know that if you are in any immediate danger, the Professors and myself will be on standby to step in. If this _does_ happen to you, this does not necessarily mean you fail the test, as you and your team are scored based mainly upon your combat-proficiency.**" I couldn't help but grin wider. Atlesian Military Androids? A combat proficiency score? This was right up my alley!

"**Now that you understand the rules, the test will begin in ten seconds.**"

'_Of course he'd pull some shit like that,_' I thought with a small sigh while a lot of people seemed to panic. "**Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven,**" He counted, the mirth in his voice clear for everyone to hear. "W-wait up! Where are we supposed to go for the test!? You never said where to go!"

"**Three. Two. One~!... Look down.**" Everyone, myself included, blinked and collectively looked down. We were no longer in the room, or on the ground for that matter. Every single student had just been teleported hundreds of feet into the air, directly above Beacon Academy itself. The screams that followed had left a good portion of the group screaming was more than understandable as we dropped like dead weight. Even _I_ was thrown off my balance as my body careened out of control for a moment. Already I was having _so_ much fun. I used my semblance to activate my Nanites, letting a small portion of them to slither down my to my feet on parts of my back. Quickly calling on the Dust energy stored in the nodes, I mixed fire and wind, letting the new energy to blast out of the exhausts on the bottom of my feet and back, stabilising my fall into a very slow descent within a blink of an eye. "So the Testing grounds is Beacon Academy itself? Damn if I didn't expect that." Looking closely, I could see that parts of the Academy itself had physically changed. Windows and doors were sealed off with reinforced concrete, and hard-light dust was activated over every building in what I could see was a tight, well structured net. '_Probably to make sure no stray attacks end up damaging property, and to make sure nobody tries to hide. Smart._'

People zoomed past me on the way down, many of them screaming on the way down, but there were others who were as quick to adapt as I did. One Faunus girl with a black tail formed a grey cloud under her feet and zoomed straight down, another with rabbit-ears laughing as she used her hammer-axe hybrid like a Pogo-stick via blasts of concussive wind. A familiar figure in a black and red hoodie had opted to plummet straight down at full speed, even going so far as to kick off the air to speed up his fall. '_His shoes aren't even weapons, yet his did that with his own strength?_' Quickly twisting, I pointed my body at him and blasted off at full throttle, fully intent on partnering up with him. '_I should definitely be able to reach him within thirty seconds tops-!_' I glanced to my left just in time to see an entire missile being launched at me, and I barely put up my full armour in time as it exploded full force on my chestplate. The armour itself held up fine, but the raw power bruised my ribs and sent me careening down to the ground, smashing into a building and crashing into the floor, with no small bit of debris flying everywhere as I touched down. In a three-foot deep crater.

"...okay, _ow_." I groaned as I pulled myself out of the crater, clearing my head and checking my damage. '_Had I not put up my armour, my aura would have definitely been broken in one shot. Ribs definitely bruised,_' I winced as I felt my ribs throb, '_And slight disorientation from the concussive blast. Off to a great start._' The ground suddenly began to shake with once every second, the vibrations getting stronger, and a warning blared off in my HUD from behind me. Acting on pure instinct, I leapt high into the air with a quick boost from my exhausts, narrowly avoiding another missile from exploding on the back of my head. Twisting and pointing an open palm at the target, one of the older-model Paladins with dual-missile turrets mounted on its shoulders: I kissed my teeth in annoyance as I realised that there were two empty missile-pods. '_So this is the same asshole who shot me down huh?_' Channelling fire, lightning and wind into my palms, I roared as I unleashed a white-hot beam of energy right into one of the turrets, the heat and concussive force of the blast causing all the missiles to violently explode with a ***BOOM***, tearing the metallic body of the Paladin apart like paper and blowing its limbs off in every-which direction.

"Garbage," I spat, landing smoothly on my feet and quickly reassessing the situation as I broke out into a brisk jog. "Pretty sure that I saw him land somewhere over by the centre of this place," I muttered, contemplating on whether or not to try and quickly fly up and over there again. '_Bad idea. Even if my suit is fine, I'll still take unnecessary damage. I'll have to fly low!_' Another warning popped up to my left and I quickly dashed forward in time to avoid a swipe of a claw. '_Beowolf Alpha,_' I thought as I spun to face it. It quickly swung at me again, but I weaved under and lashed my foot out right into its shin, bone snapping like twigs before a quick uppercut to its throat punched through flesh with ease. "Another one down..." A small burst from my boot-thrusters let me hop off the ground in time to dodge another three of them crashing into me. Pointing my palm down again, I increased the size and spread of my Palm-Repulsor, a dense blast of concussive gravity flattening them like bloody pancakes. "That's five." Blasting off again, I turned a corner and almost crashed right into a horde of Atlesian androids, at least thirty guns and blades all pointed right at me.

No hesitation, no fear, just pure fun. I shot my hand forward and unleashed a wave of gravity to push back any androids that were too close and to stop the hundreds of bullets that were fired at me dead in the air. Flicking my hand out again, I sent them flying right back at them, puncturing and shredding bits of their armour but otherwise not causing any real damage. Four of them rushed me, arm-blades taking the place of their ranged weapons. "You'll need way more than four!" A thruster-propelled kick tore the first one's head off and crashed into the second's chest, stopping its advance for a brief moment as one behind it bumped into its back. The moment was more than enough time for me to form a razor-sharp blade of my own on my forearm, slicing through both of them in a single swing and blasting the further one into dust. The rest of the horde tried to converge on me, half taking off into the air with their own limited flight capabilities and aiming their weapons at me. I grinned and charged as much raw electrical energy as I could into every inch of my suit, a volatile mix of aura and dust making the metal glow with bright blue lightning. "_**HAAAH**_!" I roared, shooting my arms out to my sides, my out E.M.P washing over every single android around me, systems overloading and outright exploding or shutting down, completely fried either way as metallic bodies dropped to the floor.

"Wonder what my score for that would be?" I pondered out loud before I resumed my rush back to someone who'd I'd hope be my future partner, only to be stopped by one of the more advanced Paladin models to leap from a room in an attempt to crush me. "Shit!" I cursed as I quickly manoeuvred out of the way from its dive, twisting and turning my body midair to dodge the high-velocity bullets that it immediately began firing at me. '_Assault-Type Paladin. High destructive capability combined with well above-average movement speed for something its size,_' I thought furiously, dodging by the skin of my teeth as it unleashed a terrifyingly-fast right hand that just barely clipped my shoulder as I cartwheeled to the side. It's follow-up was equally as fast, its hip twisting to lash the same arm out like a whip in an attempt to catch me during my evasion. Kissing my teeth again, I let my body go completely loose and crumpled to the floor, its attack sailing wildly over my head. "Wide open!" The thrusters on my back launched me up effortlessly and I increased the amount of nanobots on my right arm, my already armoured fist tripling in size. I yelled as I shot it forward right into the Paladin's chassis, the metal denting and ripping fairly easily. '_For it to be so fast, Assault-Types need to have far lighter armour covering the majority of its body. Still strong enough to negate gunfire and above average artillery, but...!_' Even damaged, it still fought back, whirling its fists in a storm of blows combined with heavy gunfire.

"My Suit's _way_ more than above-average!" My thrusters fired off at full blast and I rocketed right into one of it's shoulder-joints, forming another arm-blade and slicing right through it like butter. I twisted again and punched my hand right into the broken and exposed joint, blasting pure lightning directly into its internal systems. The Paladin shuddered and fell to its knees, its smoke and sparks popping off of its now ruined form. "It's barely been five minutes, and already I'm running into a load of these things," I thought aloud, "How many of these does the Academy even have?" My question was almost immediately answered as I looked to my right, my hair standing up on end. "Shit," I muttered. Centurions were some of the hardest combat-androids to deal with. Extremely dense armour, high precision, deadly at close quarters and even adaptive programming. Not to mention, they looked cool as all hell: gone was the traditional white and black colour-scheme, now its armour was gleaming silver on its much more human-like body, its visor an electric blue as it locked onto me. It broke into a sprint, so fast that expert Olympians would cry themselves to sleep. I barely formed a shield in time as its fist crashed into me, its full body-weight blasting me backwards and right into one of the buildings, the hardlight shield crackling and sparking.

The air was forced out of my lungs but I quickly leapt away as it continued to come after me, punches and kicks ripping through the air several times faster than something as big as the Paladin could have managed. '_If I keep running away, it's going to keep chasing after me. I'll have to stand my ground and fight it!_' I grit my teeth and planted my feet, some extra nanites forming spikes to forcibly lodge me into the floor as I put my hands up in a basic guard. It paused for a moment, analysing me, my stance, and my armour before it dashed in with a heavy jab. I deflected it with a quick slap and countered with a rocket-propelled right hand, my punch connecting with its jaw with a loud ***BANG***. It didn't even give pause, forcing itself in an lashing out with a right hook to my ribs. I winced at the impact but lashed a bladed elbow out at its face, a, ear-grating screech echoing through the place as it took a small gouge of metal off of its cheek. '_Damn it's too tough to take on at close range! My best bet is to try and get some distance on this thing and blast it to dust, but...!' _I tried to do just that, launching a knee right into its sternum before trying to blast it away with gravity, only for it to slam its own hands into the floor, stopping it from flying backwards before it dashed right into arm's-length again. '_It's too fast!_'

"**Diving Strike**, **Black Turtle!**" A blur of yellow slammed into the Android with killer-intent and what looked like a burst of steam, the indentation of a fist in its chest. She stood up to her full height (just under my collarbone) and looked at me. Dressed in an outfit meant for close-quarters combat, a black pair of loose pants with shin-high brown boots covered in sunset coloured metal armour, flaming designs etched in a shining shade of gold. Her t-shirt was bright yellow, but the majority of her torso was covered with a thin, form-fitting Kevlar with sown-in metallic plating in the same colour and style as her boots. She wore some well-shaped gauntlets that went up to her elbows, again in the same style as the rest of her metallic covering, though they almost looked like she was wearing a pair of dragon-claws. '_A fighter-type,_' I thought as I looked closely at her boots and gauntlets, seeing that they were embedded with several different high-grade dust-crystals. '_Close to mid-range using dust-enhanced attacks. From how light her armour looks, I'd peg her as a speed-type. Plus...' _I thought as I looked at her face, '_She's a looker._' She was incredibly pretty, fair skin that had a number of scars wherever it was exposed, even a handful on her face. She had quite the body too, with toned muscle that only added to her feminine figure. Her face was youthful and free of makeup, perfect lips with a little scar on the upper right of it, wavy and messy golden hair that fell to her back and most interestingly, two different coloured eyes, one lilac and one deep blue.

We barely had time to register the fact that we were partners before it went on the attack again, dashing right at her with the full intent to maim. Her eyes turned away from me and her face twisted with the intent to obliterate. The Centurion was fast, blindingly so. She was faster. A burning overhand right caved a portion of its head in, sparks and shards of metal flying everywhere. "**Dancing Storm, White Tiger!**" The android threw out a razor-sharp jab-cross combination despite the damage, but her head suddenly weaved into a blindingly fast figure-eight motion, steam literally flying off of her as her skin gained a slightly pinkish tint. Her fists blurred into the perpetual destruction that was an unending right-hook left-hook barrage that shredded the Centurion's armour and tore off one of its arms by the elbow. Still it swung a quick left hook out, and she ducked lower, twisting her body and shooting her leg up with a roar of "**Rising Kick, Red Phoenix!**" Her boot slammed into its jaw with a belch of flame, its form being flung limply into the air. "**Big Bang Attack!**" I shouted, launching a sphere of amplified aura and explosive dust right into its chest, the sky turning white with a sharp ***_BOOM_*** as it was reduced to dust.

Both of us took the opportunity to catch our breath, the steam and the pinkish tint to her skin fading. "...Guess this makes us partners now, Schnee," She said, dusting her hands off before she raised a brow and smirked. "Though, Big Bang Attack? Really?"

"Hey, I think it's pretty cool name," I whined playfully, earning a little grin from her. She was about to say something, but even more Knights and even a handful of Paladins all converged on our position. We immediately dropped the banter and got ready to launch ourselves into combat again. "We'll have to defend this position!" I yelled, taking to the sky and prepping my weapons again. "I'll take care of the ones at range and give you support, you go wild up close!" She grinned wide and steam exploded from her body again. "I can definitely do that! Let's go!" #

**To be continued...**

* * *

A.N: Nothin' to say really, just now get to head into the action! Hope you all enjoyed, and peace out!


	8. Lucky draw

**A.N: Wow, a ReViEw! Oh boy does that make me so excited! In response, don't worry, I don't plan to throw in an assload of characters right off the bat and try and focus on every single one of them (cough-cough, mylaststory-cough). The story revolves around the four kids of RWBY, other characters are used to _forward_ their growth development, not take away from it: and only _very_ occasionally may I switch POV's to different characters. Also, HURRAH FOR VOLUME 7! Anyway, right into it.**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter 3**

**Lady luck?**

* * *

**Terra**

A quick lean to the side was all I needed to dodge a sharp swipe of talons from the Ursa Major before I spun my Naginata up, slashing its arm clean off as it roared in agony. "Eternal Youth!" My Stand quickly formed its grey clouds on the open wound, clenching its fists and seemingly yanking out a load of blood straight from its body, the Ursa seizing up as it fell to the ground, dead. I separated the moisture from the blood and formed several spears of solid blood. While I spun to parry a blade strike from one android, Eternal Youth used the opening to plunge one of them right through its head. "Come get some girl!" Crystal roared, swinging her Hammer-Axe right for my head. I grunted as I quickly swayed back, the sharp axe-head just barely brushing my chin as I back-flipped away to make some space. My eyes darted over to her partner, expecting a followup attack from what looked like a revolver in his hand, but he instead chose to deal with his own set of enemies despite the obvious opening he could have taken. '_That's an advantage I'll take,_' I thought as I dodged another ripping swing. '_Headmaster Oscar did say that we'd be facing a lot of threats, and that includes other people taking the exam as well. I wonder if our combat score in this case goes up simply by fighting someone or actually beating them?_' I grunted as I deflected another chop, metal on metal ringing through the air as I managed to keep up with her blistering pace. '_Still, I know that they're on a team... so why did all four of them just decide to jump me? Wouldn't that have made this a lot easier?_' I thought, remembering being nearly cornered by the four of them, the one guy from Vacuo with the curled ends of his long blonde hair opting to split up and leave me to one half of the group.

"Don't mind him, he's all for that 'Fair-Duel' shit, your fight is with me!" She roared, plunging her hand into the ground. It shook like there was an earthquake, and I immediately jumped straight up just in time to avoid a massive spike of... "Is that emerald?" I muttered, eyeing the spire of what looked like a precious mineral just sticking out of the ground. I was forced to make more cloudy footholds for me to leap off of as shards of it broke off and zoomed right for me.

"Definitely a semblance," I muttered, using Eternal Youth to quickly grab them mid-air and try to throw it right back at her. Rather than dodging it, my eyebrows shot up as I heard multiple high pitched ringing sounds, like someone struck bullet-proof glass: the shards of emerald shattered on contact with what looked like a coating of pure diamond on her skin. "You..." I started, only for her grin to shine through on her diamond-skin face. "My semblance allows me to have complete control over any precious metal and material! And when I combine aura with something like this diamond on my skin, I'm practically invincible!"

"You look weird," I deadpanned. The smile dropped off of her shiny face and I had to hold back a snicker. "H-hey, this looks really cool!"

"No, it looks weird," I repeated, "It looks like your skin's all cracked up at certain parts, and its all shiny and it makes your face look really distracting." She looked more annoyed rather than enraged, but regardless she bolted right towards me, the edge of her axe now coated in diamond. I let myself fall through the cloud, just narrowly missing her swing to my cranium as I shot my own foot straight into her stomach, powered by my own aura. *_**CRACK**_*. I winced and had to grit my teeth a bit: she wasn't kidding when she said she was invincible. '_That shot fractured something in my foot,_' I thought as I quickly formed a cast made of clouds around it, small enough so that she didn't notice but with strong enough to hold it in place and give it time to heal. "Told you so!" She laughed, bulldozing her way through everything that I tried to literally throw at her, from chunks of stone to raw blasts of my aura. I tried to get into a close-range fight, swinging Black Snow right for vital areas, her heart, neck, ribs and arms, but every one of them were repelled by her skin. As I slashed down at her neck again, trying to find a weak-point, she roared and smashed her fist into my ribs.

'_Perfect_!' With my Antanium cloak, aura, and Eternal Youth, I managed to completely stop her punch without taking serious damage. Her eyebrows shot up for a moment in surprise before her facial expression, previously full of fire, went completely cold, her eyes glassing over. '_She's distracted, time to-!_' *_**BANG**_* My vision flashed white and I felt my body flying through the air, the impact against a pillar thankfully dulled by my cloak as I fell to the ground. "Sh-she's been holding back," I said aloud, shakily making it to my feet. The left side of my face throbbed painfully, and I knew that my eye was going to swell shut soon, despite my aura working to try and heal it. She stomped towards me, an aura that shone like a pure diamond swirling around her. "So you're serious now!" I said, forcing my body into a combat stance, steadying my breathing and sharpening my focus. "I'll admit, you're smart. You were trying to grapple with me weren't you?" She blurred and was suddenly in front of me with her fist cocked back again. '_I can see it!_' Going faster than before, I swayed away from her punch, fully manifesting Eternal Youth in her humanoid form to dash in and restrain her, wrapping her body in a binding of clouds. I moved in as soon as she couldn't retaliate, leaping onto her shoulders and twisting my body to end up on her back, wrapping my legs around her waist and pushing the shaft of Black Snow against her throat. A push from my Stand sent up both to the ground, the cloud bindings breaking as Crystal flared her aura out to break them, though she was still unable to shake me off.

"Clever little shit!" She choked out, trying to get to her feet. I grunted and flooded my jacket with aura, wrapping my sleeves tightly around my forearms to reinforce their pull and chaining myself to the floor with cloudy chains from my back to make sure she couldn't get up. It wasn't that hard either: all that diamond coating her made her _incredibly_ heavy, something that she had begun to realise. "Trying to use my semblance against me? I'll just-!"

"Take off your diamond skin? By all means... try it!" I shouted, tugging harder. She chuckled, and I could feel her sudden grin. "N-nah! I was thinking of just wrecking the place to shake you off!" The ground shook violently and something large burst out of the ground, slamming into my side. I was thrown into the air and forced to let go of her, though I quickly recovered with a flying cloud to catch me. Massive razor-sharp spires made of amethyst jutted out of the ground from seemingly everywhere, with more than a couple of Grimm and Atlas Tech becoming skewered on the end of it. Her partner was calmly perched on the very tip of the tallest one, almost lazily watching me with a rather serene face, allowing me to get a better look at him. Tall and slim, he wore a simple white jacket and trousers, a belt at his side holding his revolver. His greyish white hair was rather well-kept and swept to one side, revealing a calm, strong looking face with shining blue eyes, and funnily enough a light shade of stubble above and under his lips. '_Is... is that a cartoon-skull under his lip?_' I thought idly. Again instead of taking advantage of the opening his partner had created, he just smiled and waved at me. I grinned and waved back before I felt something grab the back of my jacket and my world turned upside-down in an instant, the back of my head smashing into what felt like some kind of solid metal. '_Gonna feel the concussion after this test is over,_' I groused to myself as I quickly leapt away, pivoting to face her again.

Instead of a thin diamond coating, she was now encased in a massive body of pure ruby, probably ten meters tall, almost looking like a Geist's possession of certain objects. "Try this on for size!" She bellowed, bringing down a massive (and very valuable) fist towards me. A kissed my teeth and flipped backward, narrowly avoiding getting crushed by several million lien worth of jewellery. I wouldn't be able to use my Semblance against her, that much was certain: it was far better suited for lighter loads and more precision manoeuvring, not lifting massive weight. Even with the shards that were flying off of its body would be of no use against armour that thick. '_However_...' I grinned as I cartwheeled into the air and kicked off another cloud, landing right on top of its head, right where she was encased in. '_Yup, she has open areas that she needs to breathe._' Summoning my Stand once more, I yelled, "**Eternal Youth!**" She silently grinned before she began to rapidly punch at the Golem's head, bits of it beginning to crack, but otherwise very little damage being done. I hopped off of it as soon as another hand attempted to swat me off, gracefully landing on the ground. "Did you really think that'd work?" She laughed, stomping over towards me before a confused expression dawned on her, her face slowly turning purple.

"Did you forget? Eternal Youth can steal and store practically _anything_ tangible," I said confidently, leaning casually on Black Snow. "That includes the oxygen inside your Golem." The construct fell to a knee as she visibly gasped for air that wasn't coming. "Now you can fall asleep knowing that I've won," I grinned. She looked up at me, her eyes slightly rolling into her head before she grit her teeth, her aura suddenly exploding and blowing me off of my feet, forcing me to get back to my feet as quickly as I could. '_Dammit, I got too cocky. I lost my hold on the oxygen!_' She was already in front of me, all of her aura channelled into her diamond-coated fist as she was ready to punch my lights out. '_Can't get my guard up in time-!_'

"**Dragon Smash!**"

Everyone on the field was left stunned as a black-sleeved fist seemed to spring from nowhere, crashing into Crystal's jaw in what looked like a hook/uppercut hybrid. All of our eyes went wide as the diamond that was meant to protect her shattered like glass, her entire body flying into the air and slamming into another hard-light shield so hard that it actually bent and rippled. My eyes turned back to the guy in front of me, his own eyes meeting mine. '_Silver_,' I thought with a bit of surprise. His face was boyish, with tanned skin and a light dusting of freckles across his cheeks, and his black hair was a bit messy, though it suited the occasional red tips that seemed to be glowing very faintly. He was a fair bit taller than be, about half a head. But those eyes... '_There's only one other person in the world right now who has those. Guess today is my lucky day._' I stood up and brushed myself off and held a hand out, his own eyes watching me hesitantly. "You got a partner?" I asked.

"...nah. You?"

"Zero," I replied with a grin, "Guess that makes us a pair now huh?" He seemed to relax a bit and he shook my hand. I fought my instinct to flinch as soon as I felt it palms. '_They're really rough! It's like I'm grabbing stone!_'

"Wait, if we're partners," He started, his aura starting to rise slightly as his body tensed up, "Are we partnered with them?" I shook my head, getting back into my stance as Crystal managed to recover. "Nah, they've already got a team. Almost corned me and could've kicked my ass, but their leader opted to split up and leave two of them against me. Besides, if we were teamed up with them, it would say so on our scroll." He nodded, getting into his own stance right next to me, a relaxed and loose stance of a close-range fighter. '_He has no weapon on him at all?_' I thought, curious.

"That was a smart move on the leader's part," He said, "Having his whole team beat a single person doesn't speak much about their actual skill, so splitting up lets them cover more ground and earn more points. Though, you handled yourself pretty well against that one." I smirked and muttered, "Damn right I did." Suddenly my head swam and I almost fell on my face, unable to stop myself as my foot throbbed again, but the boy quickly caught me and gently let me sit down. "You're still pretty worn out," He chided almost gently, "Give yourself a minute to rest but keep your guard up. Her teammate over there might not attack you, but there might be other Grimm or Atlas Tech in the area." I nodded, more than a bit annoyed that all the damage was catching up to me right now. "Just give me one minute," I said, trying to shake the dizziness from my vision, "I'll be up and ready to kick her ass with you." He laughed a bit lightly and turned to face Crystal again, though, his face changed. Gone was the softy that let me rest: a savage smile split his face open, his silver eyes glinting dangerously. His pale white aura didn't just rise from him, it looked like it was ready to explode off of his body like a writhing mass. "One minute huh?" He said, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders. He was trembling, not out of fear. He was _excited_. "Challenge accepted."

**(Hajime No Ippo OST: Black and Blue)**

"Hey, who said you could butt in!?" Crystal shouted, hefting her hammer-axe and coating herself in diamond again. "I'll split you in two boy!" She dashed right at him and swung with such speed that her weapon looked like a smear of silver. A deafening *_**CRACK**_* echoed though the battlefield as her weapon shattered like glass, her body blown back again as she stumbled to try and regain her balance, her mouth open wide in shock. Riot's fist didn't remain outstretched in what would've been a cool-ass pose, his feet _exploded_ off the ground and he closed the distance between them almost violently, the ground beneath him torn apart. He slammed a left hook right into her liver, her face twisting in pain as her body shook and the diamond cracked and flaked off in that area. Still, she grit her teeth and her her left fist came chopping down for his head. His response was swift and had zero hesitation. He twisted his body and forced his shoulder into her chest, letting her fist sail over him before he grabbed it and bucked his hip up, roaring as he cleanly threw her over his shoulder like a rag-doll. The air was knocked clean out of her as the ground cracked from the weight and force of the throw, and he took the opening even further, throwing both of his legs over her face and neck, her arm between his legs as he leaned back and twisted sharply.

"I won't let you!" She roared again, strain on her voice as her muscles bulged in her arm in her attempt to stave it off. He suddenly went completely limp, letting her toss him over her body with ease, yet he still held onto her arm. He tucked his body and landed on his feet, he entire back arched like and upside down 'U' (or is that just an 'n'?). He gnashed his teeth and his aura burst off of him again as he somehow managed to completely reverse the throw from his insanely awkward position, tossing her straight into the air. Grabbing her by her shirt before she went up to far, he snarled as he yanked her right down onto his knee, nearly folding her in half. Her diamond skin was completely gone in some areas, but she wasn't going down without a fight. A spike of topaz shot out of the ground and raced right for his head. He let go of her and quickly shifted his weight, his left foot cutting through the air and obliterating the spire like sugar-glass. Crystal came at him from behind, an armblade made entirely of diamond slashing right for his neck. Again, he shifted his weight perfectly, pivoting left to lash out with his open palm. Another *_**CRACK**_* was heard as he stopped the blade dead in its tracks with his bare hand before he closed his fist and crushed it, rendering it useless. She stared at her broken blade in shock, and the moment's distraction cost her dearly.

His form seemed to triple in the blink of an eye, throwing a right right-roundhouse, left roundhouse and right hook-kick at her. She didn't even have time to react as they slammed into her head with a rapid-fire *_**BANG-BANG-BANG**_*, as they impacted her temples and directly on the back of her head in a burst of aura. "**Consecutive Dragon!**" Her eyes rolled into her head and her knees buckled as she nearly fell to the ground. Somehow, she gnashed her teeth and stayed on her feet, life returning to her eyes, and I realised why. '_She managed to defend herself with a diamond coating at the last second. Her reaction-time is incredible!_' She quickly launched herself away from him as he nearly took her head off with another one of his terrifying kicks, encasing herself in a giant Golem made out of pure diamond. The construct glowed with her aura, and I knew that it was going to be way tougher to crack. They boy just shifted his legs and crouched to give him a wider stance, his aura siphoned directly into his muscles as a giant diamond fist tore through the air. Instead of being run over, his body seemed to blur as he lashed out with a right hook. The air literally exploded with a ***BOOM*** at the Golem's entire right arm and a large chunk of his torso was reduced to dust, part of her actual body fully exposed. His body exploded off the ground, appearing in front of her with his aura-clad fist cocked back. "**DRAGON-SLAYER!**"

**(End OST) **

What should have happened was Crystal's aura being shattered instantly, her defences broken like a mallet on glass. Instead, the entire world distorted for a moment, and all of a sudden we found ourselves right back to the moment after he landed his set of kicks on her head. All three of us stood there, confused and disoriented (especially Crystal who was basically just kicked in the head again), though the boy was quick to try adn react, attempting to take her head off with another kick. "_Ah-ah-ah_, I don't think so." Just before his kick landed, Crystal's teammate finally jumped in, fast enough to pull her away from the kick and pull out what looked like an old but very finely maintained revolver. He fired off four shots at an incredible speed for a semi-automatic gun while backing away, the boy forced to punch the bolts of dust away. "The hell are you doin!?" Crystal shouted, struggling to get out of his grip, though from the damage she took, it was rather weak. "I can take him!"

"I'm afraid to say that you can't hon'," He replied with a deep and smooth voice that didn't really belong to someone the same age as me. "As much as I'd love to stay and fight that one," He nodded over to Riot, who opted to stop attacking but stayed prepared, halted by the new guy's intervention. "It wouldn't be smart to possibly lose our change to rack a higher score, wouldn't you agree? You also need to recover, and you're even luckier that I stepped in at the right time." She kissed her teeth but otherwise didn't argue. "It's been a pleasure you two," He said with a small bow, though his eyes were locked with my new partner's almost intently. "I await the day we get to fight."

"I'll be ready for you next time, so don't get your hopes up," Riot warned, though his smile never dropped off his face. The two of them darted off and he relaxed somewhat, looking back to me and flinching slightly, probably because I was staring with my mouth hanging open. "...Got something to say?" He muttered defensively, snapping me out of my haze. It took me a moment, but I grinned and replied, "You hit really hard." He was obviously surprised, not expecting me to say something like that. "What, you think that because you've got a scary war-face and you hit really hard that you'd scare me off? Please, there are a load of scary people out there. You just so happen to be one of the good ones." His eyes turned soft at that, and it was my turn to be surprised again as I realised that he was trying hold back a lot of emotions. Relief, joy, gratitude were the most prominent ones though. "My name's Terra, Terra Wukong," I said with a smile.

"...Riot. I'm Riot Rose," He replied with a beaming grin of his own. His eyes suddenly narrowed behind me and my body seemed to react on its own, summoning Eternal Youth to pummel a Beowolf Alpha that had attempted to sneak up and lunge at me from behind. My Stand never hit the hardest by itself, but with its above average speed it could still hit something with consistency, forcing the Grimm back enough for me to plunge Black Snow into its neck, severing its head clean from its body with a sharp twist. "You've got a Stand-Type semblance? That's so cool!" I nearly jumped at the sudden childish wonder in his voice. "It doesn't look like it can hit seriously hard, but its got some good speed and good range on it too. What's its ability?"

"Oh, I can use her to make mist or clouds that can hold or store anything tangible, and release it whenever I want. I can't hold anything above two-hundred pounds though." His eyes seemed to sparkle brighter as he examined her, the latter slightly giggling at his curiosity. "Is she sentient as well? I haven't seen anything like her before!"

"Yeah, only partially as far as I know. She kinda mimics my emotional state, and if I'm in serious danger then she'll protect me on her own. Otherwise, she just does exactly what I want." She stuck a hand out with a cheeky look on her face, letting Riot shake her hand. "...So you're a fan of semblances?" He hummed for a bit before he seemed to come up with an answer. "I think that it's better to say that I love aura and what it can do. If Dust is meant to be something like the leftovers of the Gods and their gift of magic, then aura is the flame of potential within every living being on Remnant." As if to demonstrate his idea, he allowed his aura to rise again, and I actually felt the hint of raw power that was leaking from him. "Our strength is not wholly determined by my flesh and blood. It is that power hidden within us that allows us to reach realms beyond our limits. I want to see how far this power can take me, something that I can call my own, not gifted to me like a weapon or artefact." His voice was so impassioned that it honestly drew me in for a moment, until he blushed madly, incredibly embarrassed as he shrunk in on himself. "S-sorry, I got carried away there."

"Nah, I actually enjoyed that," I said with a bit of admiration in my voice. Admiration, because pretty much everyone knew about the rumours: Headmaster Oscar having divorced the greatest huntress alive and blocking his only child from ever attending any professional Hunter Academy. That kind of opposition would be enough to make anyone give up on their dream, yet here was his son taking the exam, having strength beyond pretty much everyone here, the kind of strength that you had to _work_ for. '_Yeah, I got really lucky with my partner today._' There was a sudden movement behind Riot that neither of us missed, Riot spinning on the spot as I stood next to him, fully prepared this time. A pack of Alphas and Ursa Majors stormed into the area, seemingly ready to lunge at us but were held back as soon as Riot unleashed a greater amount of his aura, surrounding the both of us like a blazing pale fire, startling and driving them back. "How's your foot?" He asked, his voice serious again, "I can feel that you aura's being drained a bit in that area." I experimented and stomped down twice on it, earning a dull throb of pain. "A bit tender, but it's mostly healed up and I can deal with it."

"If you need to, try concentrating a decent amount of aura as tightly as you can right on the area where it hurts the most. It speeds up the progress a lot, and doesn't cost much aura at all." It took a moment to control my aura as precisely as I needed to within my own body, forcing me to close my eyes and concentrate. When I was successful, I nearly lost my concentration in shock: it barely took thirty seconds for the fracture to be healed completely, the pain entirely gone. He saw my surprise and grinned a bit. "Cool right?" I nodded, a grin on my own face as I focused back on the Grimm in front of us, who were getting impatient and steadily advancing on us. "I'm ready." We both roared and charged right into the fray, Riot lashing out with his ungodly raw power and tearing through the Upper C-Class Grimm with ease. When he wasn't blasting their heads off with punches or ripping them in two with kicks, he executed perfectly timed throws that further broke their formation. I relied on my agility and precision to cut down every enemy in front of me, their own severed claws and blood turned against them with the help of my Stand. Riot ended up throwing an Alpha at me and I seamlessly transitioned from defending against a swipe to cutting the airborne Grimm in half. When I pinned one of the larger ones down with a storm of debris, he was there to finish it off. Even in the heat of danger like this, I could only smile and laugh along with him. This was _bliss_.

Minutes later, we were surrounded in a hill of dissolving bodies, our breathing deep but not from exhaustion, rather, it was raw exhilaration that coursed through our veins. "Not gonna lie..." He said after a moment, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead, "Haven't had that much fun in a while." I was about to reply, but a noise to the far left forced me to get back into my fighting stance, Riot himself, not missing a beat and standing right next to me in his own stance again. A bout twenty or so meters away was a horde of Atlesian Androids, and while our first impulse was to jump in and meet them head on, Riot was the one to actually stop our charge. "Hold on," He muttered, peering closer. I was looking too, and I came to the same realisation that he did. "Are they... running away from something?" I said, surprised at the sight before me. It was true, almost every A.K, Paladin and otherwise were fighting with their backs towards us, seemingly preoccupied by whatever was thrashing them up front, mechanical bodies flying through the air. "Damn, it actually looks like the majority of them are destroyed," I said, impressed. Neither of us could actually see the ones who were trashing them, but we could figure out that it was a pair of people. "Give me a second, I want to try something," I said to Riot before I closed my eyes.

"Eternal Youth, spread your influence!" She quickly dissolved into a mass of mist before even that appeared to melt, rapidly spreading outwards to the point where her mist was just barely visible to the naked eye. I could sense just about everything within a fifty-meter radius, from the stones on the ground to the mass of destroyed android corpses in front of me. The one who I also sensed surprised me: Asuka was there fighting with someone, her aura alight like a burning sun. Not to mention, there was nobody else around, so I came to the conclusion that they were just a pair. "They're just fighting by themselves, let's join them!" Riot nodded and we both threw ourselves back into the fight, the Androids not ready for an attack on both fronts as we tore them to scraps. We were done with them in under a minute, all of us looking at each other at the faint *_ping_* of our scrolls going off signalling our new team. Asuka's partner was none other than Wolfram Schnee, who's weapon of choice was an incredibly high-tech power-suit of some kind, his helmet flowing back into the suit almost like it was water or sand. "Thank's for the assist, no doubt that probably earned us some points," He said, loose and relaxed as he shook my hand. "No worries," I said, "Just glad we could finally get a proper team together." Both of us turned to look at Asuka and Riot, and we saw they the were walking towards each other, almost _menacingly_. "H-hey wait you two, we're on the same side-!" Wolfram yelled right before they crashed into each other... in a giant hug.

"Why didn't you tell me that you'd be here!?" Asuka shouted, tears streaming down her face as she hugged him even harder. "You know damn well that you'd blab you big mouth about it to everyone and I might lose my chance!" Riot half-laughed, half-sobbed as they sank to their knees. "Sh-shut up, asshole!" She barked back, though that didn't stop the flow of tears or joyous laughter from both of them. The sudden overflow of emotion made both me and Wolfram turn around, deciding not to question the moment and let it roll. "... can't say I expected to make a team like this," He muttered to me with a little grin.

"Honestly," I sighed, "This doesn't even phase me anymore. It's like a writer's intentionally throwing in sudden emotional twists in a poor attempt to try and relate to the readers."

"..._what_?"

"Exactly."

**To Be Continued **

* * *

** A.N: Finally, Riot's fighting capabilities are revealed (somewhat), and a new team is formed! Much of Riot's inspiration for his fighting-style comes from Baki the Grappler and Sendo from Hajime no Ippo, along with a few other things a bit later down the line. Also, I understand if you think that his style and Asuka's style are similar, though I'll try to establish the main difference between them as I go on: Riot brawls with power, Asuka blitzes with speed. Also on the topic of aura and Riot's beliefs on it, yes, it's directly from the newer RWBY manga that came out not too long ago, and personally I love the description for aura in it, being the 'flame of potential' for humanity. It's kind of the direction I'm going in terms of the power-scaling for the series, all things considered. Hope you all enjoyed either way, so this is peace out for now! **

**P.S: M-A-N-D-O-M **


	9. Plz Nerf Nerg

**A.N: Nerg drops in and ruins a party. The end. Also longer chapter than normal because cinematic reasons.**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter 4**

**Elder Dragon**

* * *

**Riot**

"So let me get this straight," Wolfram sighed, "You two have known each other for a pretty long time, and both of you have trained together since you were kids?" Asuka snickered and threw her arm around my shoulder. "You got it right on the money," She laughed, "Don't forget that our mothers are sisters too. We spent a lot of time together, and trained like hell to get where we are now... I was just lucky enough that his father looked more favourably on me instead." The last part was said in a low, bitter tone that reflected exactly how I felt, my own body tensing up slightly. Asuka noticed and gently squeezed my shoulder, calming me down. "Sorry about that," She muttered to me, and I just smiled back lightly. Honestly, I was feeling a lot better than I normally did. Reunited with my sister-figure, was on a cool team, and we were acing the test so far. "It kinda explains why the two of your are freakishly strong though," Terra said, propped up on a chair made out of her semblance (that was so freaking cool), "Being able to train with the both the strongest and greatest Huntresses of our time? That's honestly pretty lucky. What did you guys even do?"

"Fighting," I answered, "A _lot_ of fighting."

"...okay, but fighting who?"

"Our mothers, each other, Grimm that auntie Yang would decide to _literally_ throw at us. And don't even get me _started_ on all the drills we had to do," I sighed, grinning as I thought about the literal hell that Auntie Yang put us through. "Don't remind me," Asuka groaned, also remembering what we were put through. "Though, it definitely helped in the end considering we can totally kick ass!" She laughed again, shaking me slightly. The feeling made be smile a bit: this was really nice. "Come to think about it..." Wolfram started, "I've seen both of you manage feats of incredible strength today, yet something tells me neither of you are going all out, which begs the question: out of the two of you, who is stronger?" The air suddenly grew a bit warmer, and I just knew that Asuka's blood was starting to get hot. "... that would be me," She said slowly, looking directly at me with a deadly expression (though I had to restrain myself from laughing).

"Are you sure?" Terra asked, sensing my amusement.

"Yup," she answered quickly, leaning closer to me while I pointedly ignored her gaze. "...You don't have anything to contribute to the question?" Wolfram asked me, also amused at the situation. I hummed for a bit, still ignoring Asuka's threatening glare to the best of my ability, idly thinking about something. "Oh, I know!" I said after a moment, "It's been a while since we got to test our strength against each other, so how about this: the first big enemy we see, we'll each hit it as hard as we can. Whoever kills it or does the most damage wins. How does that sound Asuka?" I asked, putting on an intentionally massive and innocent smile. Her glare was as intense as her own grin, her hand gripping my shoulder a bit more tightly. "You know damn well that you're gonna lose."

"Maybe. Maybe not. It depends," I shrugged, knowing that Asuka would never in her life back down from a challenge of any kind. "Depends!? Who the hell do you think-!?" She started, before another Ursa popped up around the corner, its mouth open to roar at us before Asuka darted forward, her form a blur as her fist blasted the Grimm's head off in a single swift blow. "Hah! I win!" She shouted triumphantly before she even landed. I raised a brow at that. "C'mon, we both know that an Ursa Major ain't worth jack." She kissed her teeth and rolled her eyes, though I could still see that she was having a lot fun. "Fine then, we've lazed around long enough! Let's get our asses moving and rack up more points!" Wolfram surprisingly stood up and dusted himself off, readying his (completely awesome) power-suit again. "She's right. I'm still not sure if the exam has a limited number of things for us to fight or not. Even they run out, resorting to fighting other teams isn't the smartest idea. Let's aim to get as many points as possible before we run into a real threat!" The four of us were rolling out a matter of seconds later, Wolfram and Terra up in the air to look out and provide support while Asuka an I were on the ground, dealing with whatever came out way with our bare hands. It wasn't long before we ran into a higher-tier Paladin, its guns trained on us as it began to fire scores of bullets as Asuka. She laughed in defiance, her fists a blur as she outright punched the high-velocity rounds that would've normally tore through armour like paper. Wolfram charged a massive sphere the size of his body, made of raw aura and explosive dust into his palm. "Terra, take it!" He shouted before a thin coat of mist enshrouded the sphere, Terra visibly sweating as it slowly split apart into eight smaller ones that rapidly circled her form.

Wolfram flew around the Paladin and tried to get to its back, though it pivoted a lot faster than he anticipated, its fist threatening to knock him out of the sky. "No you don't!" Asuka roared blasting off the ground and shooting her leg straight up into its elbow, the force of the kick tearing its arm in half. It stumbled from the sudden loss of balance and Terra was quick to take advantage, firing off the borrowed orbs into its knee joints and bringing it to its (now ruined) knees. I took the opening and dashed in, lowering my centre of gravity and channelling my aura into my muscles. "**Dragon-Shift Style!**" I shifted my weight as I threw my punch at full-force, right as Wolfram blasted off its other arm with a Dust-infused aura beam. "**HAAH**!" I roared, my fist blasting through the Paladin's torso and tearing a hole the size of a car right through it, chunks of its insides flying everywhere. The entire sequence barely lasted thirty seconds. Wolfram touched down, and though I couldn't see his face, I could feel that he was staring at me, and it made me feel uncomfortable for a bit. "Remind me later to ask you to _never_ punch me," He said, a chuckle in his voice that put me at ease.

"That doesn't count by the way!" Asuka shouted at me, "I could've done the same if I hadn't saved his sorry ass!" She pointed to Wolfram, his body recoiling dramatically as if he was wounded, Terra snickering slightly. "Ouch Asuka. I'm wounded by your words, truly," He sighed, fake crying, though it looked kind of weird considering he was in a suit that covered his face. It wasn't long before we were thrown into combat again, another pack of Alpha descending on us. Terra was the one to take the lead this time, her Naginata's shaft suddenly extending to be at least fifteen feet long. Despite its awkward and near absurd length, she swung and spun it in wide, swift arcs, the edge of the blade unleashing sharp crescents of grey aura that sliced through their numbers with ease. "Holy crap, how's she swingin' something that large so quickly?" Asuka whistled, impressed by the feat even as she tore an Alpha's head clean off. Kicking the one closest to me into the air to be blasted to dust by Wolfram, I looked closely at her technique. '_Her body isn't that well build enough nor her aura potent enough to let her wield her weapon that way. Even insane dexterity shouldn't allow that. Unless..._' Looking closer, I realised exactly what she was doing. Her entire weapon was covered in a thin coating not just of her aura, but her semblance's mist as well. '_She's using her Semblance to keep hold of the entire weapon's length! She's got complete control over every inch of it, and even if it were to fly out of her hands, she could just use her semblance's range like Telekinesis to keep swinging it. That's so freaking cool!_'

Her body also undulated and twisted like a palm tree in the wind with each swing of her weapon. She was still trying to conserve as much stamina as possible by using the momentum of her Naginata rather than her aura and her strength, and hell, it was working pretty damn well all things considered. That was right up until one of the larger Alphas leapt into her blind spot, its razor-sharp talons racing right for her head. "Shit, behind you Terra!" Asuka yelled, though Wolfram and I were already there to intercept her. I lashed out with a roundhouse kick while Wolfram formed a three foot long blade made of Hard-Light Dust and swiftly cut through its body like butter, my own kick tearing its head off like wet paper. '_His entire suit... it's not just plates of metal, its like sand that's held together by his aura,_' I realised, '_That's why he's able to quickly change his suit's form! It's probably part of his semblance too, come to think about it._' I couldn't help but grin a bit wider as I thought, '_I'm on a team with some really cool people!_'

"Thanks for the save you two," Terra huffed as soon as we were clear again, wiping a bit of sweat off of her face. "Though I think just one of you would have been just fine." Again, I had to hide my face at that: it was embarrassing every time my body just reacted on its own. Terra noticed this and nudged me playfully, a cheeky grin on her face. "Hey, seriously thank you. That's still twice that you've saved my lazy ass." I felt my face heat up and I wrestled with myself to fight off my smile. "Besides, that probably counts as teamwork points or something... right?" Wolfram laughed, patting me on the back.

"Uh, hey, guys?" Asuka said, looking straight up into the air. "What the hell is _that_?" All four of us looked up, and right there in the sky was a Grimm. The sight of it made my blood run cold. "... You have _got_ to be _shitting_ me," Wolfram said, his fists clenching, and for damn good reason. After Salem's defeat, a great deal of things happened in Remnant. Previously hidden information had now become widespread, the knowledge of Magic and likewise Magical Artefacts not just known but being actively sought out by regular citizens, hunters, and entire governments alike. Not only that, but brand new life flourished across the planet. Strange creatures with weird, abnormal properties that just didn't match up with anything we quite understood. Some of them were naturally dangerous or aggressive, going so far as to outright attack humans, other settlements, and even Grimm (it still gave Hunters a job, so no real complaints from us).

Then, among even those creatures are nigh-otherworldly beings who were better described as living catastrophes able to match even the toughest and oldest of Grimm out there. One of those creatures was hovering above us with each beat of its massive, spike-covered wings. The majority of its body was pitch-black, excluding the countless array of white spikes that ran from the very top of its face right down to its broad and powerful tail, though its underside were different shades of a sunset, reddish-pink to glowing orange. Terrifyingly dense muscles ripped and clenched under its scaly and spiky skin, its forearms and back legs equally donning strong muscles and armed with thick talons. Its near lip-less mouth, even closed, displayed a row of jagged teeth that could undoubtedly crunch through reinforced steel with ease, beady black and yellow eyes staring directly at us. To top it all off were the two, giant white curved horns protruding from the sides of its head cemented its appearance at something that came from hell itself. "That..." I answered Asuka, "Is an Elder-Dragon." It took a deep breath in before it bellowed out a massive, air-shaking roar that got everyone on the battlefield, Grimm, Android and Human alike, to freeze in place. "That is a Nergigante."

**Headmaster Oscar **

"What in God's name is a Nergigante doing here!?" Yang shouted, rushing to put on her gauntlets and firing up her aura. "That thing was attracted here because of all the high-class Grimm that we trapped all in one place for the exam," Blake said, before she turned to glare right at me. "I warned you about something like this happening. You know what happens went you bring a load of powerful Grimm into one space. The Extinction Dragon will make _damn_ well sure that its ecosystem it lives in remains balanced." I said nothing, though I opted to just smile, leaning back in my seat and idly tapping my foot. That both caught Blake and Yang's attention, the former in a more violent manner. "You _wanted_ to attract a Nergigante? Are you _insane_!? Not even some of the higher-skilled prospects can fight that thing!" She roared in my face, her hair lighting up like the sun. "Who said they have to fight it?" I stated.

"Don't even start with that shit," Blake hissed. "Nergigante will relentlessly hunt down and tear apart everything in its path. You didn't just give it an entire platter, you gave it a goddamn _playground_ to frolic around in."

"The two of you will not interfere," I said, calling on just a hint of magic to physically hold them in place. "No student has been hurt, and currently no students are at risk. They will have to face serious threats like this one in the future. I'm doing this to draw out the students' potential." Yang grunted and flared her aura, breaking out of her magic shackles with ease, but making no attempt to move now. "... You're going to regret this if a single student get seriously hurt because of your carelessness."

"Maybe," I agreed, if only to placate her, "Or maybe we'll see something special." Yang looked like she was going to retort snappily, before her eyes seemed to glint. To my surprise, she actually smirked, a condescending one aimed right at me as she apparently realised something. "You know what? Yeah. You're right. You just might see something a bit special today." I raised my eyebrow at that, and for once a hint of suspicion wormed itself into my mind.

**Riot**

"EVERYBODY FUCKING SCATTER!" Wolfram screamed, his voice cracking almost hilariously, though I honestly couldn't blame the guy, considering all four of us were screaming as well as we dived out of the way as fast as we could. The Dragon had dived right at us with speed that something the size of three Paladins really shouldn't have, barely missing us as it smashed itself bodily into the ground. "WATCH THE SP-AAAUGH!" He roared in pain as the giants spikes all over its body shot off of it as soon as it crashed down, screaming through the air like missiles, one of them piercing Wolfram's armour and biting into his abdomen, his aura barely saving him as he was flung back like a ragdoll. Asuka didn't fare much better, managing frantically fire out her fists, batting away two of the projectiles, though the weight was enough to send her skidding backwards on her ass, my own attempt to defend myself leaving me in a similar state. It was Terra that fared the best out of all of us, throwing up a shield of mist that caught all the spikes sent her way. I leapt back to my feet, brushing off the damage as I shouted, "Wolfram, are you alright!?" He got to his feet quickly as well, a chunk of his suit missing from the left side of his abdomen, though his skin was only bruised and his aura was quickly stitching the suit back together. "I'm fine, just hurt like a _bitch_."

"No seriously, what the _fuck_ is that thing?" Asuka growled as she rushed over next to us. Wolfram's suit ad fully repaired itself now, and he turned on his thrusters, letting him slightly hover above the ground. "You've never heard of a Nergigante? Those things are Elder Dragons, and have enough raw power to back up that title. That one still looks like a younger one, considering all the yellow and orange on its underbelly, but don't let its age fool you."

"I sure as hell am _not_ fooled," Terra said wryly, dropping the spikes to the ground with a tired huff. The small moment of respite was nearly immediately cut off as it leapt right back at us, covering the distance far faster than we had expected. It roared as it swung its Talons down as Terra, who wasn't prepared to dodge or defend. "**Dragon Smash!**" I roared, my body on autopilot as I swung my left fist up with as much body-weight behind it as I could. My knuckles crashed into the centre of its paw and I immediately regretted several of my stupid life choices as I barely managed to dull the impact, the sheer weight and power behind its swipe blasting all of us back with the same ease that we'd swat a fly. Wolfram was better prepared this time, a Hard-light shield defending himself, Asuka and Terra while also dulling the impact of us crashing into the ground again with a Hard-Light netting of some kind. "Holy crap Riot!" He shouted at me, almost flabbergasted while I kissed my teeth in annoyance. "Yeah, I know, it was stupid. She didn't defend in time and I just reacted on my own."

"Dude, you actually _hurt_ it!" He pointed towards the Dragon and I realised that he wasn't joking. His was yelping in surprise and annoyance as it shook the paw that I punched, its fingers twitching slightly as it managed to put its weight on it with some difficulty. Then, it stared directly at me, and I knew I just pissed it off. "Guys, brace yourselves. I didn't think I'd have the chance... no, I didn't think I'd ever _get_ to use this." I warned, lowering my stance and getting ready to breathe in deeply. "O... Oh shit, stand back you two!" Asuka yelled, knowing what I was about to do. "**Dragon's Breathing.**" When I breathed in, I pulled my aura tightly around my body just on top of my skin and let it explode, flooding my muscles with raw power and engorging my senses. I felt each tendon almost literally groan from the strain, my bones aching from the pressure. What aura I couldn't contain violently lashed out like whips, shattering the ground I was standing on and even tearing gouges out of the Hard-Light defences of the building behind us. "H-hold on, you aren't gonna fight that thing alone are you?" Asuka asked, completely floor by what I was about to do. "You know that you can't keep your full power up for that long!"

"That thing has its sights on me," I replied, grinding my teeth together to try and keep a lid on my aura. "I'll hold it off for as long as I can, you guys go. Besides..." I stomped my foot into the floor, stone cracking as the muscles in my leg tensed, "It's time I proved that I'm not dead weight." Before they could say another word, my feet exploded off the ground, closing the distance between me and the Dragon. It screeched in surprise at my sudden speed, managing to back-step as I swung my fist as hard as I could, ripping the air apart as I barely scraped its horn. '_Shit, I'm just barely up to par with its speed!'_ It roared in response to my attack and struck back, spinning rapidly to lash its spiky tail at me. I just managed to duck under it, jumping back in with a flying kick right into its snout. The *_**BANG**_* was satisfying enough, rocking its head back as bits of its spikes broke off from its neck and it reared up onto its hind legs in pain. I tried to follow up with another kick, but raw pain shot up the leg that I kicked with and I had to bite back a scream. The opening was all it needed as it snarled and slammed its talons right on top of me. Crossing my arms above my head did pretty much nothing as I got flattened, my already injured leg crying out in agony from the sudden impact. It wasted no time, scooping me up into its jaws and biting down on my torso, tossing me right through a stone pillar. I focused as soon as I got some distance on it, rapidly healing my leg and ribs before rolling to my feet, beating my chest and roaring at it again. "THAT ALL YOU GOT!?"

It snarled again and reared up on its hind legs again, diving through the air and swinging its claws at me again. "**DRAGON-SLAYER: WRATH!**" Its swing met my punch, and there was a giant ***BOOM*** that blew both of us back, both of us roaring in pain as I felt something crack in both of our arms. I managed to recover first and I dashed in again, trying to slam a sidekick into its jaw. It reacted faster than I thought it would, bringing its good arm up and actually blocking with its spiky forearm, said spikes shattering but absorbing all the damage. It reared its head back again, a dangerous glint in its eyes as I saw it tense the muscles in its neck. '_Oh shit._' It snarled as it tried to ram me into the floor with its giant horn, though I quickly grabbed it and used it to swing myself up, completely dodging it as its head crashed into the ground. '_Wide open! GO FOR IT!_' I cocked my other hand back kicked off the air, shooting straight down and aiming for the top of its head. I don't know how, but it must have been ready for me, or it reacted on instinct, but it rolled out of the way in time as I drove my fist through the ground, stone flying everywhere as my punch dug a crater around me. I couldn't move as my aura flared outward wildly, tearing muscles and cracking bones.

It bellowed as it took the opening and literally _punched_ me with every ounce of its weight, my already damaged body now broken in several places as my vision went white, my body flying through the air and bouncing off the ground several times before I crashed into something. My vision swam and my ears rung as my entire body throbbed, though I could just barely see and hear the Dragon throw its head to the sky and roar in triumph. Then, its eyes locked onto me. '_Ooooh shit._' It started to stalk towards me before breaking out into a mad sprint towards me. "**Fist of the Black Turtle!**" Asuka's fist, coated in Gravity-Dust shot right into its side, sending the Dragon rolling and tumbling away from us thanks to its lack of balance and support on its bad arm. Wolfram followed up with beams of gravity from his palms, Terra supporting him by firing the dragon's own spike back at it, further blasting it back to crash into one of the other larger non-shielded structures, tons of stone, concrete and metal burying it for the time being. "Good God Riot!" She shouted at me, putting her palm on my chest and lending me some of her aura. I breathed and let my aura gently settle down, focusing it on my cracked bones and mending my torn muscles in a matter of moments, thankfully not costing too much aura with her help. I was still in pain, but I grit my teeth and powered through it, sitting up and trying to get to my feet. A sudden powerful slap rocked my head off to the side, sending me back onto my ass.

"You GODDAMNED IDIOT!" She roared, grabbing me by the collar and easily lifted up to slap me again, my vision flashing white. "Why the hell would you go and do some stupid shit like that!? You can't fight a Nergigante by yourself!"

"Like I give a damn whether I can or can't!" I growled back, pushing her off of me and trying to raise my aura again. "You guys are all here because you've put in the work while I've been chained down by _him_. But, I won't let you fall behind because of me..." My aura violently crackled as I pulled it close again, a familiar pain racing through me. "_I'll prove that I'm worthy of being here!_" I was about to take off again, but I was tackled not just by Asuka, but by Wolfram as well, cloudy bindings appearing on my wrists and ankles, but I kept struggling until- "You are _worthy_ Riot!" Wolfram shouted, and I stopped, a sudden pang of something warm cracking in my chest. My aura faded but I still struggled a bit, though it was growing less and less. "You're here now, and that says something! As far as I'm damn concerned, I've never seen someone our age who's as strong as you are. You've put in the work too, and from what it seems, ten times what almost everyone else here has done, so don't you _dare_ give us that shit!" It felt like that sphere of bitterness inside me shattered, melting down from the size of a watermelon to a golf-ball. For the first time, someone other than my mom looked at me and saw what I did to get here. Saw me and called me _worthy_. Tears started to stream from my eyes, as I had to choke back my emotions as best as I could. The resistance against me lightened, and I felt Asuka embrace me tightly, two other hands on each shoulder.

"You _are_ worthy," He repeated, his helmet melting into his suit to reveal a slightly bruised but absolutely sincere face. "But, you can't take that thing alone, even as strong as you are now."

"He's right," Terra agreed, "You're strong as hell, but you aren't going to crack through a hide that thick before you get flattened or your body gives out." There was a loud crash and chunks of debris flew everywhere, the Dragon bellowing in indignation as it visibly bristled, crouching on all fours before cautiously stalking towards us. "Wait as sec," Asuka said in shock, "It's completely healed itself!" Unfortunately, she wasn't joking either. It's arm that I broke was already back in perfect shape, and its spikes were growing at a disturbingly fast rate. Weirder still was that its spikes were a deep, almost glossy black, and noticeably larger than its previous ones. Even its once white horns slowly bled into black, its appearance just a bit more menacing. "It _has_ to be a different variant," Wolfram concluded, his eyes narrowing before he formed his helmet again, the four of us standing side by side, ready to try and face this thing. '_Together_,' I thought, trying to fight back another smile. "... Okay, I think I have a plan," Wolfram said a moment later. "Riot, how long can you keep up that augmentation-skill? Does it give you extra durability on top of your overall physical boost?"

"Right now, I'd say five... nah, three minutes," I replied, "And I can take more damage with my aura concentrated like this, but it's not as big a boost to my defence as you think."

"Okay, that'll still work then. I need you to stand your ground with that think and fight it head on again. Keep up that pressure and keep its eyes on you, but don't try to tank everything it throws as you. Think you can handle it?" I breathed in deeply once more and let my aura rise around me, simply nodding at him. "Asuka, you're the best when it comes to speed out of all four of us. Whenever it attacks Riot, hit it where its vulnerable. Armpit, ribs, joints, just go for it. Do you have any Lightning Dust?"

"Got a whole batch that I've been saving," She replied, the scales on her gauntlets opening up to reveal small revolving cylinders, each of them containing high-grade dust that was sure to last a while, but in both of them was an untouched batch of pure Lightning-Dust, the weakness of Dragon-type monsters. "Perfect. I'll be aiming to destroy as much of its spikes as I can. Terra, your semblance makes you the best at overall area-control. Keep it off balance whenever and however you can, and whatever spikes that I managed to break off, I want you to toss them right back at it."

"You got it boss-man," She sighed, trying to feign boredom, but I could feel that she was getting excited. It was still stalking us, but getting closer and closer, its muscles suddenly bunching up. "No point in wasting anymore time. Let's kick some ass!"

Everyone burst into action, my body surging with power once more as the Nergigante and I clashed with our own roars, its fist slamming against my own and unleashing a shock-wave that ripped apart the ground. Asuka blurred past me and shot a sidekick right into its belly, flames billowing from the impact as it was knocked back in a screech of pain. Before it could turn its sights on her, I leapt into an uppercut that cracked against its jaw, forcing it to focus on me. "Come get some!" I shouted at it earning a screech as it swung its claws at me again, giving me no choice but to leap back this time. My arm still throbbed from the clash of our attacks, and I knew that I absolutely had to prioritise dodging and counter-attacking. It came right at me furiously, its swings and gnashes even faster than before, making me use my footwork to the fullest. Its jaws snapped at me as I shifted away, a roundhouse kick crashing into its exposed face. Asuka wasn't letting up either, her entire body a blur as she attacked it from every odd angle possible. She blasted a right uppercut into its ribs before blurring and launching a downpour of fists on its neck.

It screamed again and turned quickly, managing to bat her away with its hand, though she managed to block and recover quickly. "Wide open! **Dragon Smash!**" I shouted, my fist ripping through the air as I connected with its jaw again with a loud ***_BANG_***, its head and body rearing up again. "Not gonna fall for that shit twice! **Blue Wave, Azure Dragon!**" Asuka roared, firing the dust construct right at its chest. It bellowed in pain as it was knocked off of its feet, though it rolled over and back into a crouch, snarling at us. Its instinctive aggression towards us proved to be another opening, Wolfram flying in and firing a torrent of dust-missiles from his suit's back, bursts of lightning, fire, ice and stone coming to life on its back. It didn't directly harm it, but it was more than enough to snap off a good portion of its spines and lock it into place. Terra quickly grabbed them with her semblance and hurled them right back at the Dragon, some of them actually scoring shallow cuts across its exposed skin. "Asuka!" I shouted, and she nodded at me, both of us grinning like maniacs. We both dashed right at its face. "**Blue Wave...!**" She shouted, the Water Dust forming the head of a Dragon around her again, though this time with golden lightning was crackling along its surface. I lowered my stance and focused as much power into my arm as I could. If we could knock it out here and now, even better. Our fists raced forward, aura's mingling as the construct shone brightly.

"**GILDED DRAGON-SLAYER!**" It air itself was ripped apart as our fists exploded on its snout, sending it flying backwards once more. It tumbled head over heels and crashed right through one of the Hard-Light Barriers, thankfully not completely wrecking the building but bringing down even more rubble onto itself. "Gaah, shit!" I yelped, falling to knee as my arm trembled from the pain. I had definitely broken something in my forearm, and it made my concentration lag for a moment, my aura starting to writhe violently in my body and threatening to damage it. Asuka was quick to lend me more of her own, and I concentrated again as I quickly healed at as best as I could, most of the pain fading. "It ain't out yet!" Asuka shouted right before it burst from the rubble, outright grabbing chunks of stone and hurling them right at us. Terra and Wolfram again took care of it, a wall of mist in front of us catching the smaller pieces of debris while Wolfram's blasts and missiles protected us from the other larger chunks. It saw the opening and took the opportunity for itself, diving right at us once more and knocking Terra out of the air, her jacket rippling as it attempted to absorb the damage.

The rest of us barely managed to dive away, though it was quick to lock onto me and immediately lash out with full force. I jumped over its first swing but almost got impaled through my stomach as it bristled and spikes shot off of its neck. I flooded my abdomen with aura as it stabbed into me, flinging me back with ease. Asuka was able to use her speed to avoid nearly everything again, rushing in to cover for me and launching off a whirling storm of strikes onto its face with her figure-eight weaving. The Wind and Concussive Dust that she used stunned it for a moment, barely giving Wolfram enough time to blast it with a massive beam of aura-laced dust right on top of its back, the dragon roaring in pain as it was crushed into a crater. "Is it working?" Terra asked, peaking over the edge of the crater to see the damage done. Not ever a second later, her face was almost sheered off as it barrelled out of the hole in the ground, madly firing its spikes to put us on the defensive and create distance between us. Again it stood a good distance from us, growling and going back into a crouch as it stalked us. Already the damage done to it was being rapidly healed, its spikes growing back quickly. "Damn, we aren't going to win a war of attrition with this thing!" Wolfram snapped, landing next to us. Parts of his suit opened up and steam billowed out of certain points. He was breathing a bit heavily, and I knew why: he could indefinitely keep his suit active without using aura, but trying to skilfully manipulate every aspect of it and fire off massive attacks one after the other while taking constant damage? That was draining him _badly_.

Hell, all of us were running low on steam after fighting at full tilt. My stamina was still good to go, but my own body was feeling the constant strain of _Dragon's Breathing_ in tandem with all of my own attacks that I was launching off, forcing me to release the technique lest my own body implode. Terra's semblance, while seemingly not costing much aura at all, directly impacted her stamina, forcing her to make the cloud she was standing on much smaller. Asuka was probably the worst out of all of us though, despite her lack of actual damage. Her own semblance didn't just speed up her movements, it directly accelerated the flow of her blood to an insane degree, forcing her adrenaline to pump throughout her entire body and raising her blood-pressure immensely. The longer she kept it up, the more she risked damaging her body even with aura's natural reinforcing properties. "Change of strategy then..." He huffed, righting himself. "We're just going to have to knock it out in one big shot. I have... something that stands a chance of stopping it. If I had just one minute to charge it, we could win this thing. You three think you can buy me some time?"

"Y... yeah," Asuka wheezed, wiping a drop of blood away from her nose. "I've been working on a technique that should at least stun it long enough to let you land it. What about you Terra?"

"I've got enough gas left to amp up Eternal Youth's strength to a point where I might be able to hold Nergigante down long enough for you guys to land your shots."

"Good. Asuka, Riot... We'll need you two to hold it off." Both of us laughed giddily, automatically walking forward and bumping fists. "Your ass is half dead," She chuckled, rolling her shoulders and trying to stabilise her breathing. "Go sit this one out, I can handle this thing."

"Oh shut up," I sniped back, "You look like you're gonna keel over any second now. Bet I can beat this thing before you can."

"Ooh, you're on!" Both of us roared and our auras exploded, my pale white shining next to her sunset bonfire. The next minute of my life was a blur: we charge in and it became an all-out brawl of fists, feet, talon and teeth. Our bodies worked furiously to keep up with the Elder-Dragon's raw physical might, constantly dodging and firing back with whatever we had left. Whenever I was vulnerable, Asuka moved in to cover for me and vice-versa. Even without Dragon's Breathing, I felt my body scream with each hit it managed it land on me, regardless of me blocking successfully. Suddenly, a voice broke through the haze of our fight: "**Eternal Youth**, hold the Elder-Dragon down!"

A mass of clouds swirled around the Nergigante before it suddenly froze, holding it in place as it screeched and thrashed, the bonds already scattering. Asuka took the chance and charged her gauntlet with every drop of her aura and lightning, leaping up and aiming for the top of its head. "**Shine bright,**** DRAGON-FIST!**" Like a storm, lightning exploded across its entire body, the dragon unable to release even a shriek as its body shook and shuddered. The three of us jumped away from its prone form, looking back to Wolfram. His feet were spread apart, and in between his palms pointed at the stunned dragon was a perfect sphere of aura, violently crackling with excess energy. "**Big Bang FLASH!**" The moment he fired it off, it bloated to something that was with size of me, ripping through the air and crashing right into it with a ***BOOM***. It didn't explode.

"Y... you're shitting me!" Wolfram gasped, falling to a knee as his suit shifted and morphed. It should have been stunned, unable to even move, but somehow, it powered through the lightning coursing through its body and caught the sphere, slowly but surely halting its momentum. "If it throws it back, it'll destroy us!" The dragon roared as its muscles bulged, gripping the sphere with its bare hands as if it wanted to outright crush it. Something swelled in my chest as I looked back at everyone, genuine worry and their faces. Looking back to the dragon, I closed my eyes and said to myself, "Just this once. One second." I sprinted towards, the dragon and leapt into the air, forcing almost all of my aura into my leg. A rush of power raged through me, and for a split second, my aura flashed black and red. My eyes met with Nergigante's own, and there was definitely shock there, but the defiance in it was unmistakable. It's no wonder I based my style off of a creature like this. My leg swung around in a roundhouse-kick, my target being the aura-sphere and my aim absolutely perfect.

"**Heaven's Ruin.**"

* * *

**A.N: And so, we leave on a poorly constructed cliffhanger. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter, and peace out.**


	10. New beginnings

**A.N: Monster Hunter as well? Of course! Although RWBY has been shown to have animals outside of the Grimm, we never actually get to see much of them, even though Grimm are supposedly only hunt humans and don't get into regular fights with other animals. Thus, with the defeat of Salem and a lack of control guiding the actions of the now smaller Grimm population, hidden life across Remnant reveals itself, this hidden life of course being the creatures of the Monster Hunter Universe. This way, Hunters are still allowed to continue their line of duty while I also get to introduce new factors into the story, from materials, weapons, equipment and of course the monsters themselves. Either way, right back into the show.**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 5**

**And so it begins...**

* * *

**Asuka**

My head spun and lights flashed before my eyes, my body throbbing in agony as I fought to regain my senses. I slowly lifted my head to check on myself. Parts of my light armour were dented and scorched, but thankfully it took a good deal of the impact. There were parts of my skin that were cut and bruised, but my aura was healing them pretty quickly. Trying to move my right arm, I hissed in pain as it twitched, a sensation of hot needles stabbing through my muscles. '_My new technique... it packs a hell of a punch, but at the cost of my arm. I'll need to be careful of just spamming it._' Looking back up, the past moment rushed back to me as I finally remembered what happened. We had held down the Nergigante and when Wolfram launched that massive aura-blast off, the thing caught it. Riot was the one who jumped up, and right before he kicked it, I felt his power do something familiar... and terrifying. Then there was a really big explosion and now, here we were. The aftermath, in a weird way, was breathtaking. Riot's kick was powerful enough not just to detonate it, but also send almost the full force of the explosion right into the Nergigante. It was like an Atlas Railgun went off, carving out the land in front of us from the centre-point right to the great walls of the Academy nearly a mile back, with only the barest bits of rubble left in its wake. Thank god, the destruction only obliterated the one building that was behind the dragon, the land behind it having been an open training-field with hills. (Well, _having_ _been_.)

The Nergigante's rock-still body was blown pretty far back and partially buried under dirt and stone, its eyes shut. No surprise there. "You alright?" Right next to me was Wolfram, and it took me a moment to realise that he was cast a dome of almost invisible Hard-Light, reinforced by a familiar thin mist that died out after a moment, the Schnee collapsing with a big gasp of relief. He was in pretty shitty shape. His aura was weakly flickering across his suit, which was seemingly flaking off in parts, chunks of it missing to reveal torn clothing and injured flesh. Though, I was surprised at how fast his aura was being replenished, and it seemed like it was coming directly from parts of his suit. "...Yeah, I'm good," I answered after a moment, wincing as I rolled out a kink in my spine. "Body hurts like hell though."

"Tell me about it," Terra wheezed. She was in better shape than the rest of us, keeling on the ground to my left, but she was _drenched_ in sweat, her body shaking slightly from sheer exhaustion. Even if aura helped deal with someones injuries, it doesn't help restore your stamina, and for someone like Terra, who's semblance directly saps her stamina, it was no wonder that she looked like she was about to collapse. Out of all of us though... my stomach nearly fell out of my ass as I said, "Where the hell is Riot?"

"I'm right here," I heard him say weakly. I shakily got to my feet and staggered over to her direction, almost crying out in relief as I saw his head resting on her lap. Out of all of us, he was the worst. Even if he was able to force the blast into one direction, he was still at the very centre of it. His hoodie was completely shredded, revealing an upper body that was drowned in a sea of angry black and purple bruising: I bet that some of his ribs were probably broken. His right pants-sleeve (most likely the leg he kicked with) was also sheared of to his mid-thigh, the once tanned skin there also smeared with bruises. However, despite how body he was wrecked, he was smiling like a maniac. "Sup?" He rasped, waving at me with a lot of effort. I sat down right by him and idly flicked him on the forehead. "Ow," He groaned in a deadpan voice, still grinning.

"You're an idiot," I sighed.

"Yep," He responded, not giving a damn.

"...Well, at least it worked," I admitted, "Thanks for the save Riot." We smiled warmly this time, nodding before he winced, his body twitching. "N-no problem... though... I'm a bit messed up right now. It's going to... take a while for me to... heal up with the aura I have." Curious, I put a hand on his forehead and was surprised: his aura was regenerating at a really quick rate, almost as fast as Wolfram's. He was controlling it within himself presicely enough to heal the worst of the damage, from the broken bones to bruised and ripped muscle, while also ignoring the bruising and minor injuries. Though, the healing wasn't as fast as he'd normally patch himself up. "Don't... give me your aura," He said, his voice serious, "I can... do it myself." I hesitated for a moment before I pulled my hand away, nodding. The test wasn't over just yet, we still had a handful of minutes left, and even if we didn't have any enemies to threaten us in the immediate area, it never hurt to-

***CRACK***

All of our heads swivelled around and our jaws dropped as the Nergigante stood, managing to shake off the rubble on its body before it stared at us. "I call bullshit on that one!" I shouted, forcing myself to my feet alongside Wolfram. "We hit that thing with our full power, it should be_ at least_ half dead!" Wolfram kissed his teeth, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead as parts of his suit dissipated into his Kevlar shirt, leaving him in only a chestplate, armoured gloves and boots. "We underestimated its regeneration ability," He scowled, forming a jagged arm-blade, "And how tough it is. I should have known that it was stronger than a regular one of its kind, regardless of age!"

"Agh, no use bitching now, we'll just have to hold it off for as long as we can," I said, shifting into a ready stance. The Dragon growled at our resistance, but very slowly came over to us, visibly tired and weak. "... Hold on, isn't it fully healed?"

"...Yeah... but for it to fully heal from damage like that costs a lot of energy," Terra replied, managing to summon her Stand with a lot of effort. "Which means... we at least stand a chance!" Riot said, shakily getting to his feet. "We've got ten minutes left," Wolfram said, "All we have to do is survive."

"Okay..." I muttered, drawing on my semblance again as my blood suddenly rushed to my head, "FINAL ROUND!" As we shouted and rushed in, the dragon let loose a deafening roar of its own, seeming to find one final burst of strength like us as we were set to collide in one final showdown. "**Oh no you don't!**" A burning comet shot right past us, reaching Nergigante first. Hands shot out of it and into its horns, stopping its charge dead in its tracks. It screeched in surprise as it was suddenly lifted clean into the air and sent crashing down onto its side. It tried to stand up, but the hand pushed down on its head harder as it struggled and thrashed for a while before it finally ran out of steam, panting heavily but still growling. "You four haven't even got in yet and you're already a handful!" Mom laughed, the golden fire around her suddenly dying out as she turned to smile at us. "Holy crap, _mom_!?"

"That's me kid," She chuckled, looking at the downed dragon. "I'm honestly impressed by you four, taking on and knocking out an adolescent Nergigante. Still, you all are pretty spent and you've got some time left to burn in the exam. You four wanna back out now?"

"Hell no!" Riot and I roared, earning a bigger smile from her. "It would be very telling of our ability to persevere if we stayed in and saw this whole test through," Wolfram agreed, huffing as the tension of the moment suddenly left him. "Yeah, we're already in this thing, might as well finish it," Terra sighed, resting her Naginata on her shoulders. "Good! Just hold out for a bit longer guys, you're doing great." She looked at me and my heart clenched when she said, "Just keep moving forward, and I know that you'll succeed." She hefted the entire dragon on her shoulders, the poor thing squawking in surprise as she casually jogged off to the nearest wall. "...Well... that's a mood-killer," Riot sighed, gently sitting down in an attempt to not break any more bones. "So, any threats or something around?" Wolfram formed his full helmet again and seemed to scan around for a while before he shook his head. "Not a single thing in sight. Looks like the blast scared a lot of people and Grimm off."

"Thank God," Terra laughed tiredly, "As much as I want to see this thing through... none of us are exactly in any shape to get into another fight." We all unanimously agreed, and opted to stay on the spot to recuperate. '_Not like we can do much else,_' I thought with a smirk. "Y'know, mom's right," I said after a moment, getting everyone's attention. "...We just managed to knock down a freaking _Elder Dragon!_" I laughed, splaying myself on the ground. "Don't forget about the entire building that we just vaporised," Terra said with a smirk of her own. "Speaking of which, do you think that the building was an important one? I mean, we basically wiped it off the face of remnant."

"... Nah, we should be alright," Wolfram replied, "I'm not detecting dust particles other than the ones we used, nor can I see any major electrical or technological wiring leading into this building." I just barely heard it, but I swore that I heard Riot breathe a sigh of relief. "Ooh, speaking of dust!" Wolfram excitedly hobbled over to a pile of dirt and started to randomly dig through it. A moment later, he "Aha!" -ed in triumph, holding a perfect cube about the size of my pinky-finger, glowing a solid sky-blue. "It's rather small, but I've never gotten a Hardlight Dust-Core! I won't have to constantly buy up more Hardlight grains every time I want to use it up. At least, once I find a way to integrate it into my suit."

"Aren't you heir to the biggest Dust corporation in the world? You should be practically _swimming_ in money to buy all the shit you want," I said, putting a bit of snark into my voice. I was surprised when his face twisted into one of annoyance as he stared right back at me. "Yes. I _could_ be Asuka. But I _don't_ do that." The hostility behind his voice made me back off silently. Riot didn't miss the sudden change of mood (while Terra was sleeping _again_) and stepped in. "So, uh..." He started softly, "... the weather's great today." The tension died and I burst into laughter, ruffling his hair as he whined in annoyance. "Great to see you're still terrible at holding a conversation that has nothing to do with fighting."

"I could say the same thing about you," He muttered with a pout.

"Okay then," I flashed a cheeky grin, "What's the best way for a brawler-type like me to deal the most damage up close?"

"Blitz past their defences and give them no room to retreat, pour on the pressure and use dust to close the distance," He answered instantly.

"What makes using a Greatsword so difficult?"

"Distribution of weight," He answered again, "Giant swords are hard to use because of your weight being thrown off by their own momentum, unless you're skilled enough to manipulate gravity-dust precisely enough to negate the disadvantage..." He realised what I was doing and turned beet-red, folding his arms and turning away from me and curling in on himself. "I hate you so much." I laughed again lightly slapped him on his back, his body suddenly contorting as he choked in pain. "O-oh shit, I'm so sorry!" I cried out, half laughing and half worried. He grunted as he straightened himself, doing his best to hide just how hurt he was. "I-I'm fine, don't worry about me," He laughed weakly. I kissed my teeth and gently put my hand on his shoulder, giving him just a bit of my aura to soothe his pain. "Wha- Asuka, I told you-!"

"Shut up!" I barked back, "You're body is wrecked, and you aren't helping yourself by not healing your other injuries, no matter how minor." He stayed silent, but he looked relieved as he used the aura to better heal his more painful wounds, the bruises shrinking from covering most of his body to about fist-sized in patches. "How're your more serious injuries?" He flexed and twisted parts of his body, wincing a bit but overall looking much livelier. "Still really sore, but I think they're pretty good for now. I should be back to normal in an hour." I breathed a sigh of relief and softly said, "Sorry." He looked to me and smiled brightly, not a drop of negativity in his aura. "Don't worry about it Asuka, I know you didn't mean to do that so it isn't your fault."

"Bright..." I heard Wolfram mutter, visibly squinting at Riot, earning another laugh from me. He suddenly seemed to freeze as he looked at a certain direction. "Eyes up and weapons ready guys," He said, getting to his feet, "We've got company." All of us were on our feet, though not with ease. Parts of my body were cramping up badly, Riot was still a bit fragile, Terra was still out of gas, and Wolfram's suit was still taking some time to reform. Approaching us was one of the newest in the line of Atlesian Tech, its steps incredibly light and almost graceful. Its nearly feminine body was incredibly slim, almost fragile-looking with its silvery and smooth plating. It stood just over six feet tall on mechanical heeled 'feet', slender arms reaching a good deal past its waist to reveal sharp-tipped fingers on its small hands. It's head had a single, small, glowing blue line running across its otherwise featureless face, the back of its head bearing a simple ponytail of pure white, synthetic hair. Its most prominent feature had to be its flowing grey cape that just faintly made an almost metallic chime, barely visible veins of blue running across the fabric.

"First a Centurion platoon, then a Nergigante, now a damn _Sicario_? We've got some shit RNG." Wolfram muttered, "Okay guys, whatever you do, _don't_ let your eyes off of it and don't rush. All we need is a good shot, its armour to too light to take continuous heavy impacts." I didn't listen to a word he said and opted to shout "COME GET SOOOME!" as I blasted forward, my fist cocked back to blast its head clean off. '_It's just a weaker Centurion, I can end this easy!_' I shot my fist forward right at its face, my aim dead perfect... and my fist passed right through it. "Nani the fu-!?" An invisible force wrapped around my arm and I felt my body go weightless as I was thrown straight into the floor, the air knocked out of me as the ground cracked. Its blue optics were suddenly staring right at me before its hand shot straight down for my face, fingers pointed to pierce my skull. I rolled out of the way in time as its hand sunk through solid concrete like a hot knife through butter, and I barely got to my feet in time as its foot cut through the air for my neck. I swayed back and I felt the whistle of air brush right by my neck like a blade, and I was forced to put my guard as it spun and followed up with a spinning back-kick sending me stumbling backwards. '_Damn its fast! In that case..._' I fired up my semblance and immediately regretted it as every single muscle, vein, and artery in my body lit up in agony, the vessels in my nose bursting and blood freely flowing from my nostrils. It capitalised on my moment of weakness and and stabbed its knee right into my liver.

The sudden spike and dip in my blood-pressure nearly made me throw up and black out, but I bit my lip hard and fired off an uppercut, again my fist phasing right through it. "Damn it Asuka, I told you not to rush it!" I heard Wolfram shout, a sudden force yanking me away from its follow-up roundhouse kick. "Good God, just listen for a second! That thing as nearly as fast as you are with your semblance, and it's programmed to kill as efficiently as possible, plus that's not to mention its light manipulation."

"Screw off, I can take i-!" My entire body throbbed in pain and I was forced to a knee. "No you can't, you've already worn yourself out," He hissed, "Guess it's my turn to step up to the plate." I blinked as I realised that all of his armour had faded away, the metal having flowed across his body into his left hand. '_His armour was that thin but strong enough to take all those impacts? And what the hell is he making?_' All he was holding was a simple metallic cylinder, just past six inches long. He breathed out gently, his body suddenly completely relaxing as he widened his stance. '_Hey..._' I thought as I just caught a glimpse of his chest, the centre of it containing four of the basic crystals... minus one.

*_**SHWOOOM**_*

My jaw dropped open as a pillar of white-hot energy burst from the cylinder, the Android actually taking a step back with its arms raised defensively. Wolfram was sweating bucket-loads, struggling with his new weapon for a moment before the crackling column of energy shrunk in size to something about a meter long. "Holy crap, it actually worked!" He laughed, quickly shifting into the stance of a traditional duellist, almost a mirror copy of his mother. "Thank God I got that Hardlight, otherwise I'd have to bring _that_ out early." The Sicario was quick to draw a short spear of its own, the blade crackling with purple lightning. "Come at me then!" The android shot forward, it's initial thrust razor sharp and pinpoint precise. A deep ***VWOOM*** sound hummed through the air as he deflected the stab with ease, his eyes fully focused as his body moved sharply to the side, a streak of white slashing for the android's chest. It again seemed to phase through until he suddenly twisted his wrist, changing direction mid-strike to the left. There was a sharp crackling sound as his new blade cut straight through something, the air in front of him distorting before it seemed to leap out of the distortion, its cape now suddenly appearing as it fell to the floor.

He gave chase and pressured the android, his wrist and arm working expertly as a constant assault against it. A spinning slash from it was quickly deflected, yet it didn't stop as it continued to try and mount an attack of its own. He wasted as little energy as possible, seeming to effortlessly move his arm and wrist with such speed and precision that every blow was directed away from him. '_I thought that he was just someone who could only fight with that suit of his. He's a full-fledged duellist!_' His style seemed to revolve around making the full use of his flowing movements and establishing a rhythm against his opponent. Considering that he was fighting against a robot with pre-programmed movements, he wasn't just matching it, but rapidly overtaking. Despite its speed, he moved and attacked with maximum efficiency, deftly parrying each strike and flicking out his blade to make small but effective cuts on its joints and vulnerable areas, slowing it down bit by bit. '_He was having trouble with the Centurion because he didn't change up his style!_' I realised. It tried to slash straight down at his head, but with steps so light that not even the dirt beneath him was disturbed, he pivoted and parried the slash before he suddenly stepped in. His arm was a blur as the same deep hum filled the air with the flash of his blade, a streak of light slicing cleanly through its left arm like a hot knife through butter. It stumbled from the sudden loss of balance and Wolfram was already slashing for his neck.

"**STOP!**" The Headmaster's voice boomed through the Academy, everyone freezing in place at the sudden panic of the voice. "**... *Ahem*... the Exam in now over. Congratulations to... everyone who held their own within the test. The Team Ceremony will be held tonight.**" I let loose a massive sigh as I collapsed onto my back, all the tension abandoning me and letting me soak in how battered I really was. "**Needless to say, everybody has shown excellent promise, and... _all_ of you have passed. Your respective grades will appear on your scrolls during the ceremony. Until then, enjoy yourselves.**" I heard something crumple to the floor, and I managed to turn my head to see Riot on his knees, his eyes hidden in his hair. "R-Riot, are you okay!?" I yelled hoarsely, struggling to my feet and almost crawling over to him. "What's wrong? Did you get affected by your aura!?" I flinched in shock as I saw tears run down his face, his body trembling. "...H-he said we passed, didn't he?" He almost whispered, his eyes looking into mine. I had a really hard time trying not to cry after seeing the sheer denial and anxiety in his eyes. Someone was strong as him didn't deserve to be plagued with eyes that sad. I promptly flicked him on the forehead, his face flinching back as he clutched his head. "OW! What the hell Asuka!?"

"Could you stop being an idiot for a second and realise that you did it?" I sighed, his face twisting in disbelief before he burst into tears. I quickly wrapped my arms around him and pat his back and head as he sobbed, the relief and joy coming off of him palpable. "We _did it_, you idiot," I said with a big grin, my own eyes a bit wet. Terra had also fully relaxed, a lazy smile on her face as she stowed away her weapon. Wolfram on the other hand surprised me a bit: he was staring hard at the Sicario, his glowing sabre still gripped in his hand. His stare went down to its severed arm, squatting down to get a closer look at it. His blade broke apart into the same sandy substance, crawling up his arm to form a gauntlet or glove as he touched the arm. "What are you...?" I muttered, earning a glance from him before his sand quickly washed over it. There was a crackle and suddenly the android's spear was pointed at his head. "Please do not tamper with systems that you are not authorised to access," It spoke in a vaguely female tone, "Failure to cooperate will result in the use of lethal force."

"H-hey, what the hell is your problem!?" I shouted, getting to my feet and readying my weapons. Wolfram put on a light smile and raised his hands in a placating way, the metal sand almost instantly reforming back to him. "Sorry about that, just curious." The android seemed to examine him for a moment before it put the weapon away, picking up its severed arm and walking away. "The hell was that about?" I asked, completely confused by what just happened. His hard expression returned and he muttered quietly, "Asuka, do you know how much a single modified Sicario costs? At least _ten-million Lien._" My eyes went wide: that much? Even the Centurions cost only a fraction of that! "Exactly," He said as he noticed my shocked expression, "What the hell is a specialised droid doing here? And of all places, of all the people to attack, why _us_?" His eyes shifted from the android over to Riot. The glance sparked something in my mind, but nothing really solid. "Whatever the case," I sighed, idly rapping my knuckles on his chest with a grin, "We're in the clear for now, so I suggest we get cleaned up and get ready for tonight."

He relaxed a bit and let it go for the time being, nodding. "Yeah... fair enough."

**Later in the evening...**

"Funny Valentine, Ringo Roadagain, Diego Brando, and Crystal-Malachite Winchester. You four will henceforth be known as **Team FRDM/ Freedom**, led by... Funny Valentine!" A round of applause went around, a few catcalls and whistles aimed at Valentine as he stood both proudly and reserved, his posture straight and his hands clasped behind his back. "May the final team please step up." Riot and I nearly exploded with excitement, Wolfram and Terra chuckling at our antics as we all walked up onto the centre of the stage. Crowds of people and even a camera-crew were there, all of them immediately clapping and cheering at us. "Why the hell are they so excited for us?" Terra winced, rubbing her ear as the outburst of noise.

"You have to remember that the Initiation is a live event," Riot said, "It was a really good opportunity for new students to gain the eyes of future sponsors, and a great deal of public support to boot. That's not to mention we also kinda fought a Nergigante and almost won." I grinned and nudged him again, getting his attention. "You're the powerhouse that made it happen, and you completely wrecked an entire building to boot. He's gonna be so pissed, I'm telling you!" I snickered.

"Quiet you two, we've got a show to put on," Wolfram grinned as the lights shined on us. Riot got a new hoodie and had intentionally put it up, hiding his face, and for good reason. "Wolfram Schnee, Terra Wukong, Asuka Arc, and..." The Headmaster's eyes narrowed and his face visibly soured, teeth grinding together as his head snapped towards our direction. Riot took the opportunity to take his hoodie off, revealing his face to the crowd. There was a moment of silence as people drank in his appearance and slowly recognised him. '_Yeah, Oscar must've cut the recording after we k.o'ed the Dragon, otherwise they would have seen him without his hoodie._'

"... and... _Riot Rose_." We thought the crowd was riled up before: they exploded into more clapping and cheering, Riot's face going completely red at the praise.

"Holy crap, it's team RWBY all over again!"

"They're the ones who kicked the Nergigante's ass!"

"It's the full dream team!"

Even as embarrassed as he was, he stood tall and defiant towards Oscar, the latter visibly grinding his teeth and clenching the wooden podium so hard that it disintegrated. "You four will henceforth be known as... **Team TAWR/Tower**, led by... Wolfram Schnee!" That was disappointing to me: I kissed my teeth silently, though the crowd seemed to love it just fine. Wolfram's expression was neutral, but his eyes shone proudly while Riot himself didn't seem to care at all, he was too happy to care. "Congratulations to all fifteen new teams and your success in the initiation," Oscar said having more or less regained his composure, "however, do not let your pride in your achievement overcome your senses. This is simply the first step in the next four years of your life, and as such, here are your respective team rankings decided upon your individual grades." A giant hologram screen popped up with a massive list of each respective team, their ranking, and each member's grade. The moment we laid eyes on it, raw, seething fury boiled in my veins. At the very top with near perfect grades was Team FRDM, the minimum grade being an A-minus.

We were at the fucking bottom. Terra, Wolfram and I got A's each, but Riot?_ A goddamn C-minus_. It didn't take long for people to notice this, murmurs of confusion and anger making its waves through the crowd. "He's mocking us," Wolfram said in disbelief, all of us looking at the smirk on Oscar's face. "He's so petty that he'd place us at the bottom, for his own satisfaction? How dare-!" Riot put a hand on his shoulder, his head bowed a bit to hide his eyes. "Riot, he gave you the lowest score of the class when we all know that's bullshit, don't tell me you're gonna accept this!"

"I know Wolfram," He said softly, "God I know. It's kind of my fault anyway... I figured that he'd pull some shit like this. I'm sorry that I pulled you guys down, but..." He picked his head up, and the burning wrath in his eyes as he looked at Oscar made us flinch. "Mark my works, he'll pay for dragging you into this. I swear on my _life_, I'll make him pay." Terra was the first to put her hand on his back, a lazy bit determined smirk on her face. "Hey, you aren't on your own in this, don't ever forget that."

"Damn straight, we're a _team_," I agreed, lightly punching him in the chest.

"He'll regret trying to toy with us," Wolfram nodded, his own mouth curling into a confident smile. Riot looked absolutely bewildered at us, his mouth open as his eyes watered slightly, raw gratitude radiating from him. He sniffed and quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Y-you know that you're going to paint a target on your back because of me, right?"

"Don't give a damn," I chuckled.

"Couldn't care less," Terra yawned.

"Honestly it could be worse," Wolfram sighed. Riot bowed his head again, trying to rapidly wipe his eyes again as he couldn't stop smiling. "...Th-thank you guys." We all looked back at Oscar, defiance oozing from us as his smirk was wiped off of his face, his eyes narrowing. It wasn't a perfect start to our story. God knows it could've gone better. But it was a start, and one that I honestly wouldn't have had any other way.

**To be Continued...**

* * *

**A.N: And so the setup for the story is finally complete! Hopefully you guys have enjoyed what's come out so far, and I hope this garners more support as time passes. Either way, peace out and enjoy! **

**P.S: Sicario is the Latin word for Assassin.**


	11. People are hurt when they are injured

**A.N: We baaaaack~**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 6**

**Day-One Hazing**

* * *

**Wolfram**

I bit my lip and breathed in as deeply as I could, reigning in my emotion as a Schnee should. "So what you're saying is that one of the most well-funded Academies in the world who's run by a someone who can control the forces of nature... just so happened to be unable to afford three more beds and a desk for us?" The secretary seemed to shrink and waver in the face of both my own and my entire team's barely contained fury. "Y-yes sir..." Riot looked frustrated enough to start punching something, Terra looked annoyed as hell and Asuka was literally glowing with aura. I calmed down as best as I could: this wasn't her fault, and it made no sense to get angry at her. "That's alright then, we're sorry for bothering you." She nodded and practically ran away from us, leaving us in silence to stare at the single decent-sized bed in the middle of our barren room. "...I'm-"

"Riot, I swear to God, I'm going to join Asuka in whacking you over the head if you say 'I'm sorry' one more time," I said seriously. He looked embarrassed, but the small smile on his face made me relax a bit more. "Anyway, this isn't too big of a deal." Terra raised a brow and cocked her head at me.

"How so?"

"You're forgetting that I _am_ a Schnee," I said with a cheeky grin, whipping my Scroll out, "And that I _do_ have good deal of money to use." Quickly going online, I quickly accessed my own account on a particularly useful shopping site, rapidly typing in and finding what I wanted to get. "And~... done!" I triumphed as the order went through, "Make sure to open all the windows! Riot, Asuka, you take care of the bigger objects while Terra and I will stand a bit further back and deal with the faster ones."

"...I'm sorry,_ context please?_" Asuka said, utterly confused.

"Just do it, we have like twenty seconds left!" Terra was already at the windows, which were thankfully large enough to accommodate the upcoming load. Not long after, there was a single point on the night's horizon that seemed to be glowing slightly, heading our way. "Is... is that a... oh SHIT!" Asuka yelped as a whole bed slammed into her, the girl gritting her teeth and holding it tight as she skid backwards, managing to place it down gently. Riot caught his with a grunt, more prepared than Asuka as he quickly placed it down. Terra was quick to spot a small bookcase, a shroud of mist completely halting its momentum before she also put it down, both of us darting around to grab some lamps, shelves and other smaller building materials. We managed to catch everything within under a minute, not a single thing damaged. The three of them caught their breath for a moment before they all looked at me, dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"...uh, tada~!" I chuckled. Asuka looked like she was about to say something, but clamped her mouth shut for a moment and huffed through her nose. "You know what? Imma just not argue with what just happened in the last forty seconds and just roll with it."

"Wise choice," Riot agreed.

"Yup! Anyway, behold our single-person luxury beds with memory-foam mattresses, infinite cooling pillows and temperature regulating blankets. In addition..." I held up a hammer, screws and metal connectors, "We'll save a lot of space by making our own bunk-beds!"

"I mean, that makes a load of sense," Terra nodded before raising a brow and smirking, "But why the hell did you buy a hammer? Can't you just make one?" I opened my mouth to form a retort, but stopped. '_...Oh my God she's right,_' I realised, and the way my face looked promptly made Asuka burst into laughter, Terra snickering while Riot did his best to console me (also trying not to laugh, cheeky bastard). "...anyway... I suggest that we get to fixing our stuff up. Classes start at 8:05 sharp, so the sooner we get to sleep, the more leeway we have to get ready for tomorrow." A loud *SNORT* sound cracked through the room that made us flinch, all of us turning to see Terra already face-down on a bed fast asleep. "She seriously worries me," I muttered out loud, "Does she have some kind of narcolepsy or something?" Asuka shrugged and quickly went about unpacking both of their stuff. Riot grunted as he deftly lifted a bed up, "Where do you want this placed?"

"Oh, just place the legs right where the tops of the bed is and hold it still," I said, taking out my hammer, nails and metal supports. It didn't take long to nail the beds together solidly enough, and I was _still_ disturbed at how deep Terra's sleep was despite the noise. Asuka was a big help too, sorting out clothes into our closet and books into the bookcase. Ten minutes later, we were done, the room a much more lively and fuller-looking. "Hmph, nice save Schnee," Asuka said with a smirk, dusting off her hands and grabbing some pyjamas. "Imma' get changed and hit the hay. You peak, you die. Understand?" Her blue and lilac eyes flashed a burning orange for a moment, and I idly chuckled and nodded. As soon as the door to the bathroom shut, I turned to Riot and he was already answering. "Yeah, don't worry about her," He said softly, grinning a bit, "She gets like that with people she doesn't know too well. I think you're pretty cool, so it shouldn't take too long for her to warm up to you."

"I hope so..." I sighed, "I just want to make sure we all get as well-acquainted with each other as soon as possible. If we're going to find any success and rise through the rankings, we'll have to work together as effectively as we can." He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, a small grin on his face. "You really have this entire thing planned out, don't you?" I laughed at that, idly looking through my pack to make sure all my clothes were ready for tomorrow. "Well I certainly _hope_ that I have everything planned out! In the end, I like to think that I do, but as they say... shit happens."

"Hah! Understatement of the goddamn year," Riot barked out, his smirk a bit more twisted for a moment before he quickly wiped the rather negative look on his face. "S-sorry, I spoke out of turn-ow!" I promptly beaned him on the head with a wrench. "I warned you about saying sorry for stupid shit," I threatened jokingly. He pouted childishly and turned away. Didn't manage to hide his smile though, so that was pretty good. It didn't take long for the three of us to get ready for bed, my fluffy cotton robe and shorts more that sufficient enough to satiate my level of comfort for a solid night's rest. "Anyway, as team leader, I hereby call dibs on the top bunk!" I said as I launched myself onto it.

"Aww damnit," Riot chuckled as he splayed himself out on the other bottom-bunk, Asuka having already placed herself on the last top one. "Well… goodnight team," I chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, let's do well tomorrow everyone," Riot agreed as he tucked himself in. Asuka snickered and said, "Sure, _be aggressive_ guys." I snorted at that but opted not to say anything: she wasn't necessarily wrong, we were going to have to work hard to earn the attention of any big Hunter-Organizations. I felt the coolness of the air and the comfort of my blankets let me slowly drift to sleep, my mind going hazy as I went under.

**The next morning…**

"…hundred…seventy-eight…" I slowly blinked awake, pleased to see that not only had I woken up earlier than the alarm-clock, but also had a solid enough rest that my body was completely mended. Turning over, my mind instantly snapped awake in surprise as I saw Riot in the middle of our room doing handstand push-ups, sweat dripping off of his chin. "Nine hundred… eighty-!" He gasped and rather quietly collapsed face-first onto the floor, heaving for breath. From the way his entire upper-body seemed to have flushed a slight shade of red, I had guessed that he had been awake and working out for the past half-hour.

"Good lord man, give yourself a break," I sighed as I sat up in my bed, startling him to his feet. "Didn't you break some ribs yesterday or something?" He huffed and gently sat himself down, tapping his ribs with a small grin. "I told you, I heal pretty fast, and I already know how to recover even faster. A full night's rest on top of that, and I'm good to-!" He winced as he shifted, quickly reaching for his leg. "…So you were saying?"

"Screw you," He groaned, his leg and upper-body visibly glowing with his pale aura, "Okay… now I'm good to go." The redness of his skin quickly faded back to its usual tan and he easily got to his feet, rolling his shoulders and wrists. "Anyway, I'm gonna take a shower first if you don't mind." I nodded as I hopped out of bed, quickly checking the closet to make sure that my clothes were still in good shape. Satisfied, I turned to open up my suitcase and take out all the books and notes that I thought I would need today.

"C'mon, you've barely woken up and you're already getting shit out?" I turned to see Asuka quietly leaping down from her bunk and landing with ease. "Well, of course," I responded, "We have no real idea what today's schedule is yet, so it never hurt us to be prepared." She laughed as she only took out her combat gear and a single dust-textbook from under the bed, idly checking it to ensure that everything was in good condition. "You mean you don't know? All other classes besides dust-usage and combat-training are only supplementary. We get to choose our other subjects later today. This is what day one in Beacon is about _Schnee_, so get used to it." The sharp, cocky tone in her voice rubbed me the wrong way, but ultimately I heeded Riot's words from last night and opted to let it slide for now.

"I suppose that works out for us either way," I said, "It's rare that a team stays together for the rest of their lives, so if we parts ways then our classes now would certainly benefit us as individuals." Her small flinch told me that she expected to react to her verbal barb, and my lack of reaction threw her off. "Tch," She hissed under her breath before she went back to checking her stuff. '_Hooo boy, this is gonna be a long two weeks,_' I sighed internally. There was some slow, languid shifting on the bunk behind me, Terra slowly rising up as if coming back from the dead. "Wh' time izzit?" She groaned, her hair pointing every-which-way.

"Seven thirty-five," I answered, trying not to laugh at the despairing look on her face. "Too early," She uttered before she tried to lay back down, until her out Stand had outright dragged her out of bed and forced her to wake up. Riot came out of the bathroom at that moment dressed in what I _think_ was his combat gear. Black hoodie with red tribal markings and black pants, he looked really similar to how he did during the initiation with some minor differences. Strapped to his shins and forearms were simple but well-polished metallic plates, most likely Auric Silver from the distinct shine. His sneakers were also custom-made, red and black but fitted with the same silver armour for its soles and tops. '_Interesting, from the looks of them, they're designed to take away a lot of the recoil that could harm his legs, yet they're hefty enough to add a great deal of raw impact-damage to it._'

"It's so cool that she's sentient!" His excited voice broke me out of my musings, a notebook in his hand as he furiously took down notes. "I never got to ask but can she talk?" Terra was too out of it to respond, but the Stand herself shook her head with a smile. "O-oh wow, so even when you're not fully conscious, she can still act on her own. Neat!" It laughed silently and nodded, and I was just able to catch a glimpse of its pure blue eyes shining with mirth. It went back to its duty in trying to drag Terra to the bathroom. "So you ready for today Riot?" Asuka asked with a smirk and a solid pat on his back.

His expression turned a little pensive, his posture curling in on itself. "I mean… I think so. I'm pretty confident that I can at least hold my own. It's just… I don't want _him_ meddling with anything."

"Naah, there's no way he'd try anything like that now that you're in!" There was silence for a moment, and Terra yelled from the bathroom "You jinxed it!" Asuka actually had the decency to look sheepish, enough so that Riot laughed and relaxed again. '_He's rather tense all the time,_' I thought, '_Maybe Terra could help him out with that? She seems like someone mellow enough to help him stay relaxed._' Filing the thought away, I coughed into my hand to get everyone's (hopefully including Terra's) attention. "Alright team, our first order of business as soon as we're ready is a solid breakfast! I suggest that we all consume carbohydrates and light amounts of sugar, nothing too heavy that'll slow us down during the combat-class for today."

"Okay first off, _piss off_ I'll eat what the hell I _want_," Asuka snapped angrily, "And second, there's next to nobody who can even touch me when it comes to a fight!" Okay, now she was _really_ rubbing me the wrong way, but before I could say anything, Riot was the one to elbow her hard enough to draw a small yelp. "Hey, stop that. You know he has a good point." She glared at the both of us for a moment before she snorted angrily, muttering "Fine," under her breath. Riot looked at me apologetically and I waved him off, her attitude wasn't his fault.

It wasn't long before we were all fully suited up and in the cafeteria, Riot and Asuka wolfing down their respective meals. I balanced out my nutrition with a salad, eggs, bacon and tomatoes, Riot going for something similar but at a much larger portion. Terra largely ate fruits, and Asuka was gorging herself on a sandwich made entirely out of meat. _Entirely_. Even Terra was slightly put off by how absurd a meal like that was, her eyes constantly flicked to it and her body shifting in a mixture of amazement and horror. Needless to say, we finished our meals without much interference, Asuka herself slamming down her coffee before shouting "Showtime!"

Even if she was rude, there was no denying the thrill that ran through the four of us. A chance to prove ourselves once more and increase our Team Ranking? There wasn't a single way in hell that we'd pass up such an opportunity. Not to mention, being able to test out the effectiveness of my new Energy-Saber was a very enticing thought. When we got to the Combat-Room, my eyes went wide at the facilities offered to us. A firing-range to test our weapon-accuracy, hologram-training, agility-courses, and finally the coveted sparring ring in the centre of it all. Many other students were milling about in their respective teams and checking out the stuff available for us. "You realize we're early right?" Terra sighed before she tried to go back to sleep on a cloud. Asuka gently nudged her awake again, and for good reason. "Seems like we're the centre of attention," Riot muttered, his knees bending slightly as if he was ready to pounce. Almost everyone turned to look at us, a combination of gloating and sneering going around the room.

"Look, it's team _hype-job._"

"With as low a score as they got during the exam, you think they cheated to get here?"

"Probably got in with their parents' money or something stupid like that."

The only team that didn't have any malice directed towards us at all were to first-rankers, Freedom. All four of them looked at us with a mixture of caution, curiosity, and surprisingly, respect from one of them, the rabbit-Faunus girl. Asuka looked like she was about to explode, but Riot again stepped in and stopped her. "Don't do it," He said quietly, "We'll get our chance." It was at that moment that the doors behind us burst open, promptly scaring the shit out of everyone. "Good MOOORNING!" The head Combat-Teacher of Beacon Academy Yang Xiao Long (what a mouthful) strode into the room, her entire body glowing pure gold and her eyes shining a vivid red, a display of her power and an example of what we should be aiming for. Everyone was in awe of her display, us included as she casually walked to the centre ring.

"Hope you all had a good nights sleep, because today is gonna be hell for all of you! Now hurry up and get a seat." As soon as we were seated, a hologram-chart of our individual rankings came up above the ring. "So, as you all know, you were given an overall grade based upon your performance during the Entrance Exam, and more specifically, a score associated with that grade that resulted in your rankings. That's not to say your grade will _always_ equal your ranking though. However, while your other classes have individual grades and merits of their own, this one is solely determined by your performance in combat, and honestly the grade that will let you graduate." Her grin turned wide and she paced around the ring, meeting all of our eyes. "Today is going to be an interesting one. Those grades and rankings are gonna be put to the test!" The screen changed to show two green bars representing aura-gauges and two empty profile pictures. "1 vs 1, a time honoured tradition in Beacon Academy! Matches today are almost completely voluntary, so if you want to preserve your ranking then I suggest you fight like your _life_ is on the line. Any questions?" There were no questions. The sheer tension in the room screamed with nervousness from almost every team. Almost. "Great! Now, let's get right to it. First pair up-"

There was a wave of air from both of my sides as Riot and Asuka literally blasted themselves into opposite sides of the ring, drawing stunned looks from the crowd. I couldn't help but smirk: this would help change opinion of us very quickly. Professor Yang had already leaped out of the ring, a knowing grin on her face. "Alright then, no hitting below the belt, no intentional killing moves, blah blah blah, FIGHT!"

**(Que Music: Hajime No Ippo OST 32, The first step to Glory II)**

"_Raging Dance, **White Tiger**!_" They both exploded towards each other, Asuka's head swirling around in a figure-eight motion as she got to Riot first. "HAAH!" He shot his fist out, trying to catch her mid-dodge, but it just whisked right by her face and the storm of blows begun. ***BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG*** echoed through the room like a rapid-fire shotgun, shockwaves cracking the air apart as Riot was unable to defend himself from the moment of vulnerability, left and right hooks exploding on his face and rocking his body from side to side. The raw power and the continuous speed from those strikes would have rendered literally anyone unconscious if not _hospitalized_.

His eyes were _alive_, tracking her motion even while he was getting pummelled. The moment another right hook snapped his head to the side, he intentionally stepped back and let his left cross rip through the air. There was a sickening ***_CRACK_*** as her head twisted almost 180 degrees, her body buckling as the sudden loss of control sent her stumbling. Riot didn't stop, widening his stance and dropping his weight slightly. "She's going to lose if she can't deal with that," Terra said, surprising me at how attentive she was at the fight.

Asuka had barely managed to get her guard up in time as he shifted forward and threw a right hook, her forearms buckling under Riot's own power. He shifted again and threw a left uppercut, but she managed to regain her senses and quickly slipped to the side. They stood in the centre of the ring, grinning like maniacs as they stood astride and squared off. "URYAA!" Riot roared as he threw another right hook. Asuka weaved under it and her hands seemed to blur, shooting into a left-hook, right-hook, left-uppercut combination that scored cleanly.

He didn't budge, his own left hook slamming into her liver. She gnashed her teeth and steam exploded from her body, and it felt like the world almost skipped a frame of time. There were suddenly three fist-shaped dents on Riot's torso, his face scrunched up in pain as he skid backwards. The space between them let her activate the dust in her gauntlets, orbs of writhing flame in her palms as she began to rapidly throw them at him. Riot refused to stand idle, weaving his head and body to avoid some, while with others he lashed out with his hands to knock away, pieces of his clothes smouldering with bits of leftover Flame Dust.

"So Asuka's the faster of the two," I thought aloud, "But Riot has greater strength and durability. Still…" Asuka switched from fire to water, the heat making it instantly turn to steam that clouded the arena. Not even a moment later, another shockwave blasted the steam away, Asuka's foot embedded in his chest. "You've increased your strength!" He noted with a slight cough before grabbing her foot, her eyes going wide as he sharply yanked her closer, his elbow crashing onto her temple and sending her straight into the floor. He was about to follow up with another terrifying punch, but she quickly lashed out with her boot trailing fire dust, a loud *CLANG* making everyone wince as his body burst into flames. "Hm, smart of her," Terra muttered, and I couldn't help but agree.

"**Dragon-Burst!**" His aura sharply exploded off of him and immediately put the fire out, but it looks like Asuka was aiming for him to use that. "**Blue Wave, Azure Dragon!**" She shot both hands forward and unleashed the massive draconic construct, the roar of a tsunami bellowing as it hit him dead on. It was strong enough to force him all the way to the edge of the ring before I saw his eyes narrow and his aura suddenly condense right back into him. He clenched his fist, and even though he was in water, I swore that I could hear him say "**DRAGON-SLAYER!**" The Dust-construct was torn apart from the inside out, a massive white shockwave ripping through it and racing for Asuka. "**Void Strike, Black Turtle!**" Her own fist met the wave and with a burst of Gravity Dust, she managed to negate the majority of its impact, though it still was strong enough to send her stumbling backwards.

Riot looked like he was going to chase after her before his face scrunched up in pain, his arms trembling. Asuka had been ready to strike back, but noticed and stopped, a lull in the fight taking place. Everyone was silent for the moment, the previous sneers and gloating aimed at us now having turned to shock and raw fear. If I had to guess, nobody had been close enough to see what actually happened in our fight with the Nergigante, and while it was broadcasted to the rest of Vale, none of the other students must have bothered to look at the recording no thanks to our abysmal rank. '_Small blessings,_' I thought with a grin.

"You didn't recover from yesterday, did you?" Asuka said in a very annoyed and very worried tone. Riot's aura gently relaxed around his body before he began condensing in certain areas. "More or less," He grunted, sighing in relief. "Bigger and more serious injuries get more of a temporary patch-up, but I didn't think I was this bad," He laughed sheepishly. As equal as they were in pure combat ability, Riot was indeed at a disadvantage, having to use more aura to reinforce his injured body while keeping up with Asuka, her own reserves at a solid 71% while Riot's rested at 60%. Asuka sighed, and the soft look on her face surprised me. "Idiot. Fine then, one last clash, whoever gets thrown out loses?"

"I can get behind that," He said with a grin before his face turned serious. "**Dragon's Breathing.**" His muscle-fibres visibly expanding as he pushed his body to its full potential. "That's more like it! **Fighting Gold!**" Unlike Riot condensing his power, she was letting hers flare outward, steam bursting off of her pinkish skin. They stood still for a moment, facing off as the tension in the room grew thick. They suddenly both disappeared, parts of the floor cracking before they started to appear and disappear around the ring. There were flashes of motion, Riot landing a deafening kick into her ribs, taking away a large chunk of her aura. Another time, it was a barrage of punches that took away almost as much aura from Riot. The exchange lasted for thirty seconds straight, auras steadily draining with Riot in the lead now no thanks to his greater power.

Finally, they both appeared in the centre of the ring one last time, Riot's fist almost vibrating with aura while Asuka's was crackling with both fire and lightning.

"**DRAGON-SLAYER!**"

"**Shining Centre, GOLDEN KIRIN!**"

**(Music end)**

The resulting ***_BOOM_*** blew almost everyone onto their asses, arcs of lightning and the shockwave ripping clean through the shielding, but the outcome was clear in view for everyone. It was Asuka who landed first no thanks to her greater speed, and her strike on his stomach, combined with both the fire and lightning dust combusting was more than enough to send him flying out of the ring and crashing through the shield. "And the winner by ring out, Asuka Xiao Long!" Asuka collapsed to a knee, clutching her spasming arm. The metal was almost glowing hot, and I could only assume how injured her arm was after firing off an attack like that, not to mention her constant gasps for air. The giant grin on her face more or less spoke of how she felt at the moment.

"Score one for me Riot, now we're even!" She shouted out. Much to everyone's surprise, myself included, Riot wasn't unconscious and he sat up laughing. "We're even for _now_, I'll give you a better fight when I'm fully healed up." Though his hoodie was smouldering in some places, it was largely intact. Asuka rolled her eyes, but I could tell that she was in a pretty good mood now. "Not bad at all you two," Professor Yang congratulated as she walked onto the arena. "Good use of your speed against a stronger opponent, though you have better ranged options than him, so get creative with what you have. On the other hand…" She went quiet for a moment, and Asuka tilted her head in curiosity. ***BANG***. Her head was snapped to the side and she stumbled backwards, falling to a knee. Everyone shouted or yelped in shock as Yang strode forward, a dead serious look on her face as she grabbed her own daughter by the hair and pulled her to her feet, promptly yanking her down and kneeing her in the face.

"This isn't a goddamn _boxing match_," She chided like she was telling off a kid for breaking some china. "You have the physical ability and the mental aptitude, but you always gas yourself out one way or another. In a quickdraw situation, you'd do fine, but you're a bunch of ass in a prolonged fight. Now get up!" Asuka was quick to roll to her feet, and despite the harsh words, her injuries, and her exhaustion, her grin only widened. She shifted forward and threw a sharp jab, easily being batted aside by her mother who threw one even sharper, another *BANG* as her head was flung back and her aura dropped to 9%. Riot flew out of nowhere and rocketed his foot at Yang's head, her arm blurring as she easily caught his foot.

"And you," Yang said as she easily yanked him out of the air and smashed him into the ground like a ragdoll, aiming a good kick at his ribs to send him sprawling next to Asuka. "You're the opposite: you start too slow, when you have the raw strength necessary to end a fight quickly!" Even damaged and low on stamina, they both charged at her. Throwing well-coordinated attacks out, Professor Yang's eyes went red before her entire body seemed to relax. Each strike or swinging blow only met air, Yang's movements minimal and completely efficient, a quick sway-back letting her dodge Riot's kick while a smooth twist had Asuka's fist skimming past her. There was a sudden shift of motion beside me, and I turned to see Terra starring at the spectacle in front of us. "Is that…?"

She never got to finish her sentence as Professor Yang's hair ignited golden, her fists shooting out to strike them both in the stomachs hard enough to completely shatter their aura and send them flying right back into our seats, Terra quickly catching Asuka while I jumped and cushioned Riot. As soon as we landed, the ranking board suddenly changing. Riot's score shot up from a C- all the way to a B+, Asuka's dropping to an A-, our ranking shooting up from the very bottom all the way to number 9. I didn't miss the cheeky wink that Professor Yang shot our way, and it filled me with relief. '_So we have some on our side here. Good._'

"Just to be clear," She said loudly, drawing the looks of fear and awe towards herself, "Everyone gets the same treatment in my class. That being said…" She pounded her knuckled together with a smile, her hair flaring dangerously. "Who's next?"

To be continued...

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**A.N: Sooo first and foremost, I apologize for the very long wait, Winter break in general has made me very lazy, and I take full responsibility for that screw-up. I know that chapter is a bit sub-par, but I wanted to at least add in a little interaction between the cast along with keeping some interesting action in between. I'm trying to force myself to properly establish character relationships so that I don't get ahead of myself before they decide to pull a new powerup out of my ass, so hopefully this chapter is a good indication of where certain relationships may go.**

**Secondly, REVIEW!**  
**To [TheWingedBeetle] I am incredibly happy that you enjoyed the pilot chapter and hopefully you're still following along with this story. And yes, GER is exactly where I lifted the line (;p) Hopefully I've conveyed with that alone how strong Oscar is over the period of time he has been given to develop, and his Semblance is more or less explained in the Pilot Chapter. Once again, thank you!**

**Finally, considering that this comes out on the 31st, I hope you guys have had an incredible year. We all have our ups and downs, but ultimately we cherish what's good and learn from what went wrong. It's been a pleasure being on this site for as long as I have been, over 4 years now! (I think). So happy late Christmas, and Happy coming New year to you all. Peace out for the last time in 2019!**


	12. Aura Class

**Welcome to the new year guys! Hope you're all starting off fairly well, and aside from that, hope you're enjoying the story so far. Let's get right in!**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter 7**

**Aura Studies**

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**Terra**

"Asuka, your mother is a horrible human being who has no concept on what it means to be nice," I strained as I attempted to put on my uniform through the throbbing pain in my back and sides. Even a full night's-rest combined with aura, there were still ugly bruises that ran across all of us. Wolfram's armour was shattered like glass, I got my shit curb-stomped, but Asuka and Riot? Yeah, they were just a _canvas_ of pain. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!" She laughed, already dressed and shadowboxing in the middle of the room, "Besides, we got our rankings up, so I say it was worth it." Wolfram grunted as he tried to button his shirt up with a damaged hand before looking up to Asuka, a serious expression on his face. "As much as a relief as it is, don't count on Professor Yang's help too much. The Headmaster would have been alerted by the change and he's definitely be watching all four of us for any slip-ups. We cannot afford any mistakes, not this early in the game."

"Gotcha boss," Riot affirmed as he packed books into his bag.

"Understood," I replied.

"Yeah-yeah," Asuka brushed off casually.

"Alright then team, good luck out there. We don't have any combat classes today, so whenever you have the chance find some time to recover for tomorrow. We'll need every advantage we can get." We made our way to our respective classes, Asuka going to her Dust Basics, Wolfram to his Weapon's Forging while Riot and I travelled to our Aura Manipulation class. "Oh shit, you chose Aura Studies as well?" I asked with a grin, happy that was taking the class with someone as pleasant as him. He blushed like a schoolboy and idly scratched his cheek, nodding bashfully and not saying anything else. "To be honest, I shouldn't be all that surprised, not with that speech during the Initiation." The poor boy blushed right up to the tips of his ears, trying to hide his mortification. I outright laughed and nudged him lightly, "I'm just teasing you dude, don't be so shy. It's not like we already went through a life or death situation together or something. I don't bite."

"...Why did you take this class?" He asked after a moment, and I couldn't help but beam at him. "See? Progress! Anyway, I thought it would be good to take this one because why not right? I'm skilled with my weapon and I have great agility, but in terms of actual strength, I'm not exactly that good, nor do I have a lot of potential for raw power. So I thought, why don't I work on versatility? My Stand alone is great for that, but what if I learn how to better control my aura for more flexibility?"

"Then the possibilities are endless!" He burst into excitement, "You can already capture groups of something, but what if you work all the way down to individual _molecules_? You'd be able to alter something's atomic makeup! In time, you could probably heal someone's wounds without a trace, create water from thin air, hell, you could even make nuclear freaking-fusion!" I raised a brow and grinned at him, and he realised that he was ranting again. He turned red again and opened his mouth to apologize and I quickly held a finger up. "Don't apologize. I honestly didn't have a clue where to go for my Stand, but thanks to that, you just gave me a few ideas. So thank you." He blushed harder under the praise, but he actually grinned brightly. "You should smile like that a bit more," I said offhandedly, smirking as I leaned in an whispered, "You might catch a pretty girl's eye with a face like yours." I didn't think it was possible for anyone to have the same colour as a cherry, his body frozen up and his jaw hanging open. I hummed in an attempt to hide my laughter and I sauntered off, turning and calling out, "Hey, you're gonna be late if you stand there Riot." He did his best to snap out of it, shakily catching up to me and finally letting me burst into laughter all the way to the class.

With the class being held in one of the buildings closer to the wall we had to be a bit quicker than normal, but being outside in the shining sun was refreshing, a little taste of home away from home. "We've got like five minutes, think we should double-time it?" I asked, and he thought for a moment before nodding. I quickly summoned a cloud and hopped onto it while Riot knelt down into a sprinter's position. "Let's go!" Now, I was pretty confident in my own consistent speed as I took of into the air, but Riot literally exploded off the ground, zooming right past me and almost knocking me off balance. '_Ten meters in the air, and he reached it like nobody's business!_' He slowed down and started to shoot his feet out from under him, audible *_TOK, TOK, TOK_* sounds, puffs of smoke and aura popping from his feet as he made his way to the class. "Damn, step on it **Eternal Youth!**" I caught up to him, but he just smiled and easily kept up with me.

It barely took thirty seconds for us to reach the class, people quickly jumping away as we landed hard in the middle of the crowd. "I guess we'll have to settle for a draw," He chuckled quietly, pout forming on my face. "Next time, don't you dare hold back. I have my own pride too you know?" He laughed bashfully, opting to just nod before we took notice of the people around us. There were traces of hatred and jealousy in the faces of the people around us, most likely no thanks to our performance in combat class yesterday. '_From doubt to hate. Ironic._' Immediately, Riot's expression turned disturbingly hard and blank, his eyes glinting dangerously at everyone. The sudden change in his attitude, from someone so casual to a person ready for a fight visibly shook people, their eyes turning elsewhere to avoid his glare. It was a bit awkward, but the doors to the class opened soon enough, and we filed in quickly to... "A gym-hall?" I muttered, confused at the lack of an actual classroom. It had its similarities to the Combat Room, but a bit more barren and with a wider overall space. Whereas everyone else was much like me, Riot was barely able to hide his excitement, both at the classroom and at our teacher.

"Hey everyone! Hope you all are having a pleasant morning, because we've got a good deal of stuff to cover today!" In the middle dressed in a casual blue hoodie and jeans, standing at an impressive 6'2 was an all too familiar man with messy blond hair, deep blue eyes, a well-trimmed beard and a personality that could only be described as pure, unfiltered kindness.

"Holy crap, it's Jaune Arc!"

"It's another hero of the Second Great War!"

"He's so _hot_!"

Professor Arc laughed as he put his hands into his pockets at the sudden amount of praise directed his way. "As much as I'd love to listen to you all sit here and pat me on the back, I suggest you all get changed into some workout clothes. On the double people!" Pumped up, we filed into the dressing-room as quickly as we could, haphazardly coming out and ready to go. Riot wore loose joggers and a simple red tank-top, fully baring his _shredded_ yet balanced physique with stone-hard chest, biceps, triceps, forearms, abs and traps literally bred for war. Yet nothing compared to his back: it wasn't ridiculously big, but _bursting_ with writhing muscle-fibres that strained against the fabric. For a split second, a wave of _something_ washed over me, and I swore that I saw... a _face_ on his back. I blinked, and it vanished quickly as he stretched and warmed up with a smile. '_Looks like I wasn't wrong,_' I thought with a smirk of my own, eyeing the female population of the class openly staring and whispering at the sight of his form. Though, while ill intent vanished from them, jealousy and hatred _doubled_ from the males. No surprise there.

"Okay class, let's get started. What is aura?" The question caught a lot of people off guard. I looked to Riot, but he just stood there with his hands in his pockets, idly glancing around the room. He for sure knew the answer, but opted to hold his tongue for the time being. "Uh... it's a force-field?" That almost got Arc to burst into laughter for some reason, but he managed to hold it down. "You aren't wrong, but not exactly what I was looking for. Anyone else?"

"A power-source that is unlocked by training or trauma," Someone else answered with a deep yet silky voice. I glanced and raised a brow. '_Huh, it's Ringo. Didn't peg him to take this class._'

"Much closer, but not quite there yet." Riot finally raised his hand, and Arc nodded as a signal for him to answer. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. We can unlock it either by breaking past our physical or mental limit, and it can be trained using both methods. It's our sword and shield, protecting us from harm and granting us greater physical abilities. It's our inner potential projected into the world." Arc smiled and nodded, clapping at the answer. "Right on! The main point which I want to drill into everyone here is that we all have different qualities and capabilities. Some of you are more inclined for raw power, while others may be better as support, long-range, or general versatility. I'm going to be helping you hone your skills using aura, while also giving you some handy tools and techniques that'll improve your overall ability. Some of your classes may require you to bring your weapons, but otherwise, always bring something to work out in. Now let's get started!" Excitement bubbled up once more, murmurs and whispers echoing through the gym hall.

"First thing's first, I want everyone to try and touch the ceiling... without using aura." That silenced everyone. I looked up and guessed that the ceiling was roughly fifteen meters up, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to reach that, along with a lot of other people. We separated and suppressed our aura, letting it fade back into our soul. It was a simple enough skill that we were all taught, like turning off a faucet to stop water from flowing out all together. It helped replenish our aura faster without having to waste it on minor wounds, though it left us vulnerable and only with our natural baseline strength. Even if that baseline was permanently increased by initially unlocking our aura, an active aura generally was much better in naturally increasing it. People all have varying results: the lowest jump was about ten feet, still impressive by all means for someone not using aura. I just managed to clear thirteen and a half to score second place, no thanks to my light frame and my style based around agility. Riot though... *_**CRACK**_* The wood under his feet _exploded_ as he jumped, zooming through the air again and stretching his hand out. He slowed to a stop as thirteen freaking meters, clawing desperately for the ceiling before he plummeted back down. He landed solidly, crouching to dull the impact, but despite being the highest in the class (literally) he was incredibly unsatisfied. "Damn it, still not enough," He muttered, ignoring the looks of shock and awe directed our way.

"Nice job everyone! Especially you two," Arc nodded at the both of us, Riot turning pink under the praise. I nudged him and whispered with a grin, "Own it dude, you did amazing."

"Needless to say though, I'm confident that you can all reach around thirteen meters minimum with aura. So why did I ask you to do it without? Well... I'm sure you know that your aura is also increased by physical training. And that you'll eventually find yourself in the field without aura at some point or another." People were starting to catch onto what he was insinuation, some going pale. "Sooo, I'm also going to be pushing you guys physically! As scary as that sounds, trust me, I know, physical workouts will help raise your amount of aura, and should it ever be broken, you'll still be able to fight on. We won't be doing that today though." Almost everyone sighed in relief, though Riot still had that excited look on his face. "Now, I want you guys to turn your suppression off. Go wild! Jump around, use your semblance, hit the punching-bag, do whatever you can with your aura! You've got forty-five minutes, so don't be afraid to do... whatever. I'll just be going around, giving you some tips and tricks."

It didn't take long for us to split up into our groups, though most people avoided us and went about their business. "Alright, so... what do you want to do?" I asked, idly warming my shoulders up. Riot hummed for a moment and tapped his chin. "Well, Professor Arc said we could do what we wanted with our aura, and both of us are pretty good physically with it, so... I say we both work on precision and overall control. It'll help both of us anyways, so why not?" I nodded and opted to follow his lead. He closed his eyes and started to breath in deeply, his body completely relaxed, before his eyes snapped snapped open, his aura suddenly surrounding him and crackling off his body like a pale white flame. Enhancement, another basic skill that let someone raise their aura-output and overall power, burning away at your aura reserves as the cost. I copied him, feeling the familiar pressure of my purple and grey-tinged aura. Still, Enhancement wasn't really my style, the skill itself being about raising your raw power. His output suddenly shifted from his entire body to his fists, power burning from his knuckles.

Thanks to his advice during the Initiation, this I could do no problem. Focus burned aura more efficiently, being concentrated in one body-part, but trying to pump that much aura into a single area wasn't the best idea, so we limited how much was actually in our fists. Riot suddenly shifted into random attacks as deftly switched the amounts around in each body-part: most in the legs, to some in his arm, to a bit in his chest. I started to copy his example, and was surprised: it felt way more efficient, and while I was still using up aura, it was way less than I had thought. He glanced at me in surprise and smiled. "Wow, you've got Flow down really well!"

"Flow?" I asked.

"Yeah. Just moving around and letting power constantly explode off of you isn't too smart, so to max out your damage and minimise your use, just let it flow into the area you want to attack or defend with. That's why it's called Flow. It's sort of the basis for my **Dragon Breathing**, but I just enhance my muscle-structure, I still can't get it to flow from part to part though, and it burns through my aura like a rocket going off."

"Huh... that's really simple but pretty neat." I agreed, trying it with a simple jump. I shot straight up like a bullet, my dome banging on the ceiling and throwing me off completely as my vision flashed. Riot was quick to jump and catch me, landing easily and gently letting me sit down. "Holy crap Terra, a-are you okay!?" He fussed and worried over me, and i couldn't help but laugh again, rubbing my head. "Geez, I'm okay mom. I just screwed up a bit and I'm fine." He sputtered out an apology and I quickly pinched his lips together. "Seriously, stop apologising for something that isn't your fault dude," I chuckled. He squirmed for a moment before he relented, and I sprung to my feet with a grin. "See? I'm fine."

"O-okay... do you want to continue-?"

"Sure, don't see why we should stop." He nodded and we quickly got back to work, striking using this new Flow. '_This is great for fighting efficiently... but I wonder how it might affect my semblance?_' I stopped, and Riot did as well, figuring that I had thought of something and opting to just watch. I summoned Eternal Youth, and gave the mental order to try and grab the moisture from the air in a ten-meter radius. It did just that, and I noticed something a bit... different. I could still grab on no problem, but now I could almost feel a kind of... control on them. Using Focus on specific areas, I managed not just to move it, but to actually condense it into three spheres of water the size of my fist, the air suddenly feeling way drier than normal. It took a lot more effort than I was comfortable with, but I was astonished nonetheless. '_This is... the same thing I pulled off during the Initiation, I just never realised it!_'

"Wow, a new development!? I was right in guessing that using Aura-Skills like that could improve your overall control."

"Y-yeah... normally I can't change the overall structure of whatever I store, but with Focus, seems like I can do it to liquids and gasses. Pretty sure I can't morph a solid block of stone though." I gently broke the spheres of water down and let it disperse back into the room, sighing in relief as the sudden pressure in my head faded away. "It's like a soft-telekinesis that operates on a much smaller scale," Riot muttered as he jotted some notes down into his little book. "But it seems like the further you spread your range out and attempt to grab more things is equivalent to the more mental exhaustion which you inflict on yourself." He gnawed on his lip as he seemed to be deep in thought for a while, sighing in frustration as he wasn't able to come up with something. "Damn… I don't really know how to counteract that. I mean, you could just manually bounce yourself all over the place and try to pick stuff up that way, but that's just a waste of movement."

"Eh, I'll come up with something in due time," I said as I pat his head, "But thanks for the help regardless. He pouted like an annoyed child and closed his book, still adorably disappointed in his apparent lack of answer. "Might as well get back to work then," He huffed, getting back to his feet and shadow-boxing using that flow-technique. I opted to see what I could do to further refine my ability, grabbing onto some more moisture to form only a single sphere of water. Closing my eyes and focusing on it, I gently began to shape and twist it with the flow of my aura as I saw fit. Even with my eyes closed, it was like I could 'feel' it in my hands. However, shaping and twisting it helped me learn a few things: returning it back to its original state was easy, but trying to manually pick it apart atom by atom was beyond my level of control. It's like trying to pluck out a tiny hair with a grubby pair of hands wrapped in gloves. Larger groups of water weren't an issue though. I shifted through different shapes and with greater speed, from a ball, to a cylinder, to a ring. More complex shapes took more time though: a humanoid figure, a snowflake pattern, a winding DNA structure.

"Oh wow, you two already know how to flow your aura? That's really impressive!" My eyes snapped open and my control vanished, the water fading back into the air. "Though, both of you try doing it again, I think that you're missing a little something. Both of us went right back into it, Riot with his movements and me with my Semblance. "Yup, just as I thought: you're burning through aura when you really don't need to!" Both of us stopped and we opted to pay attention to him, curious at what was to come next. "I don't really blame you, most trainees are only taught the basics of aura and aura-skills, that's what I'm here for. I'm surprised you know about the Flow-Skill, but you're actually skipping a step to complete it. Listen up everyone!" He called out, everyone coming to a stop to pay attention.

Arc let his pure white aura rise around him, gently seeping from him like a mass of smoke. "Aura constantly leaks from your body, but normally your rate at which you naturally produce aura negates that. Using skills on the other hand burns through it quicker than you produce, as you already know. But to negate this…" He breathed out calmly, and what was once streaming from his body was tightly pulled around him, like a film or a barrier. "You Envelop it around yourself! Think about like instead of letting it burn away, you're constantly _circulating_ it throughout and directly around your entire body to contain it. This way, you don't use up _any_ aura at all while having it passively activated. It's going to be difficult to try and maintain at first, but with enough constant practice, it'll become second-nature to you guys, so give it a try!"

I closed my eyes and immediately gave it a try, trying to envision it like my own blood flowing as close to me as possible. It took a minute, but soon I realised that my aura wasn't leaking from my body at all. Opening my eyes, I looked at my hands to see the thin film of my aura tightly wrapped around me, like a warm haze. "Whoa…" Turning to Riot, I actually flinched in shock: he had just about managed to use Enveloping as well, but his aura was visibly growing with every passing moment. Where mine only grew about two or three inches from my body, his shrouded him in almost an entire foot once it stopped. "Oh wow, now that's a pretty impressive aura Riot!" Arc nodded, genuinely impressed, "But walking around with your aura out like that isn't exactly the smartest idea. Keep that same amount but pull it even tighter to yourself. For all of you, especially people with larger auras, condensing it is going to help you naturally increase your overall defence in your aura. If you learn how to master skills like these…"

He spread his feet and tensed his body, Riot's eyes going wide as he jumped backwards. The aura surrounding the Professor's body was pulled into his body completely, and for a second I thought that it was Suppression until I realised that I could feel something in the air. _Pressure_. He had pulled his aura incredibly tightly into his body that it was infused directly under his skin, while also using Enhancement to raise his power. He visibly grew half-a-foot in height, his muscles straining against the once baggy hoodie and threatening to rip his jeans. But despite the lack of aura, the pressure around his felt like it was squeezing me like a stress-ball. "**Then eventually you can create your own skills that will greatly help you out in combat.**" He breathed out, and the pressure around me dissipated, his form shrinking back to its normal size. I gasped for air that I realised I wasn't taking in, my legs wobbling before I nearly collapsed to the floor, Riot quickly catching and steadying me. "Sorry about that, I forget my own strength sometimes," He laughed sheepishly, holding out a hand and letting his own aura wash over me like a warm blanket, letting my body relax and stabilise.

"Nah, that was kinda my fault too," I sighed, "I should have realised that you were about to pull off a technique and got out of the way." He laughed as I got to my feel, more or less fine now. "Live and learn then Terra, mistakes happen but so long as you learn, you'll be fine. Anyway, back to work people!" The Professor's demonstration having amped me up, I went right back to work with my control, doing my best to grab the moisture and shape it again. I noticed that while using Enveloping, my control had begun to sharpen even further, my ability to 'feel' the object with my aura now more sensitive to its unique sensation. I still had to split my focus for it though, being new to the nuances of keeping my aura tight and trying maintain my control over what I was holding. Riot on the other hand stood for a while, seemingly unsure of himself. "Hey, you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm good… I'm just thinking." He was still holding up his Enveloped aura with ease, his body otherwise relaxed in comparison to how tense his face was. He clenched his fist, and his aura started to writhe violently around him. He bared his teeth like an animal and his muscles strained harder against his shirt, the air around him permeated with an intense feeling of raw energy. This time, I made sure to jump back as his aura looked close to exploding. He suddenly collapsed to his knees, his hold on his aura dropping as it streamed off of his body. His power faded and I was shocked at how much aura he had lost in one go. "Good Lord, are you okay?" I asked, flinching again as I saw the massive (if not a little dopey) grin on his face.

"I… don't think that I've ever been better!" He wheezed a bit, "I have… more room to improve… and I'll get strong enough… to prove _him_ wrong." I'd never felt bloodlust like this coming from someone my age, but here he stood, his determination turned to something that was too close to killing-intent for comfort. I gently put a hand on his back, summoning just a hint of Eternal youth there to help soothe him. He flinched from the contact, the bloodlust fading as he turned meek. "S-sorry about that," He said in a small voice, "Lost control of myself for a second." I rolled my eyes and helped him to his feet, poking his chest with my finger. "_Stop that._"

"…Eh?"

"You're allowed to feel emotion you know? Stop apologising every time you want to speak your mind." His eyebrows were raised and for a moment, a surprisingly soft look was on his face. "…Thank you, I guess." I grinned and lightly flicked his forehead, hopping away slightly as I flared my aura a bit. "You let your Enveloping down. You can't improve if you don't focus, right?" He was the one to grin back, nodding and quickly controlling his aura again. Even as happy as he looked now, that intent that surrounded him not a moment ago was still fresh in my mind. '_You're crazy strong, would work yourself to death, give your life for others… but why do you constantly degrade yourself? Why contain who you are?_' Looking at him genuinely happy, for some reason, it was a look that just fit him: it was supposed to be him all the time, not something that should only come out if he wanted it to. _'…Guess I've found something to keep me busy for the time being,_' I thought with a grin, '_It'll probably be fun._'

**To Be Continued... **

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**Worldbuilding tiiiime~! Remember not too long ago I mentioned Aura being the main power-system that I was going for, and this is how I'm doing it. If the terms I used look familiar, it's because it's directly inspired by Hunter X Hunter's Nen system. Granted, I'm away characters already have Semblances in place of Hatsu (The HxH equivalent of one) but I've always thought about certain skills affecting their Semblances in different ways, rather than just a one-and-done kinda deal. One writer on this site 'moguera' has several works where he has his own unique takes on aura, and you should totally check him out because he's got amazing writing on top of it. Either way, I'm excited to implement the Nen system and run with it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you next time! **


	13. Dust and Sparks fly

**Back once more! Oh, and quick reminder, I don't own RWBY, any used music or any other series that may be referenced. **

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**Second Song **

**Chapter 8**

**Dust and Sparks **

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**Riot**

'_Focus...!_' I thought as I did my best to merge the effects of fire and air-dust. The sphere in between my hands constantly fluctuated between pure wind and flame. Suddenly both were snuffed out, and I realised that I had completely used up my dust. four days into the beginning of the Semester, and so far, classes were pretty smooth. Terra was already done 1 of her 3 essays, helping me on the History and Dust, usage one (both of which were due a month and a half from now), while Wolfram, the psychopath, had already finished every essay for every class that he was in. Which was almost all of them. History, Dust, Grimm Studies, Weapon-Tech, Combat, the only one he _wasn't_ in was Aura-Studies, and he was already considering joining once Terra and I showed him the results of our first classes. Considering that he picked up Enveloping rather easily while I still had trouble holding it up passively spoke volumes of his natural talent with controlling aura where he lacked in raw power.

"Dammit, I'm getting nowhere with this!" I huffed, going back to the rack full of dust-crystals and trying to find which one was the most useful for me. Even if I was slowly getting stronger and better in combat, I still sucked as using dust. Hell, I wasn't even sure if the weapon I was trying to make would be able to use dust properly. "Stuck on what to do Riot?" I turned and nodded, trying to keep my emotions to myself. "...Yes ma'am. My dust-control just sucks, and I have a plan for a weapon that might be able to use it, though beyond that, I have no clue what to use or how to use it."

"Hmm…" Blake Wukong was the head of Practical Dust-Usage, no thanks to her connections to Weiss Schnee and her extensive combat experience, making her the best for the job at Beacon when it came to teaching Dust-Classes. "So you're a close-ranged fighter with good speed, high power and great accuracy. I think that your best bet is to go for…" She looked at the massive rack containing all kinds of dust crystals before she snatched up and handed me one. "This. Concussive Dust reacts to both sudden impacts and auric friction to create a large amount of kinetic energy in one big burst, so considering the majority of your techniques are based off of high-impact strikes, it'll be a good fit for you." I looked at the rather small white crystal in my hand, gently flicking it and surprised at the amount of feedback that I got. "That's… actually pretty cool. Thank you, Professor!" She smirked lightly and pat me on the head.

"Don't thank me yet kid. It's your job not to become a one-trick pony, so I expect you to be proficient in at least three more types by the end of the year, got it?" I nodded and got right back to work, going over to the high-tech punching 'bag' in the room. It was honestly really fun, seeing the numbers rack up with every strike you landed on the display next to it. Granted, because this wasn't a normal school with normal-strength people, the 'bag' was more like a solid metal cylinder made of pure Titansteel, its insides fitted with tech to sense heat, pressure, impact, cutting-power, potential corrosion, damage-per-second and so on. Perfect for a wide variety of people with a wide variety of powers. "Okay, let's see how good you are," I muttered as I shifted back into a traditional boxing stance, bouncing on the spot and clenching the crystal in my right hand. Using Focus, I powered my arm with just a bit of aura, readying it to be flooded with more once I made impact on the back. Quickly, I lowered my stance and clenched my teeth, pushing off with my toes and putting my entire body into a right-hook, letting my aura quickly flow into it right as it crashed into the bag.

***_BANG_***

The metal folded slightly under my fist, digging about a good three inches into the bag. "_7000 Psi,_" The machine read out as I took my fist out. I winced as how sore my arm was, the bone underneath vibrating from the feedback. "Damn…" I muttered, though I was happy at the number. Flow, Focus and Enveloping made sure that I didn't use up any aura at all in the punch, while also further increasing the weight behind my impact. I wasn't going all out, but it was still super-strong and really efficient. Stack that on top of the dust… "I was hitting for about 6300 before. Not bad at all. I wonder, is it a flat increase, a multiplier or a percentage increase?" I set myself back into my stance again, getting serious and using just a bit of Enhancement, my aura rising all around me. It took me a moment to focus, trying let it rise without letting it stream away. Once I had it down, I did the exact same thing with my non-dust fist, my fist digging seven inches through and the numbers racking up. "_10,000 psi._"

"Nice, one more time!" I repeated the action one more time, and there was an audible ***CRUNCH*** as the entire bag visibly folded on itself and my arm was buried up to my shoulder. "_11,047 Psi._"

'_Just about ten percent, and I'm not even going all out! That's actually crazy! Still though, this one looks like pretty high-quality stuff, and I don't wanna strain mom's budget. Maybe Wolfram might have a supply…?'_ I trailed off as I just picked up on the lack of noise, and I saw everyone staring at me. Looks of open-mouthed shock were directed at me, and I felt my face heat up. "I never said to slack off, did I?" Miss Wukong snapped, her voice like a barbed whip. "Get back to work!" People were understandably terrified of her and went right back to practice, though both Wolfram and Asuka were making their way to me. "11,000 huh? And you're telling me _I've_ gotten stronger," She said grudgingly, lightly elbowing me in the ribs. I laughed softly, rubbing my ribs and opting not to provoke her with how I _actually_ felt. "W-well yeah, you… _have_ gotten an increase in strength. I've just been growing too. Though, you two are way better at Dust than I am."

"Maybe so, but it leaves no room for doubt that you're the heaviest hitter among our team," Wolfram said firmly, though not rigidly. Asuka's face visibly soured for a moment, but she managed to force it down for the time being. "Oh, that reminds me!" I started, turning to Wolfram. "I know this is really asking a lot, but those Dust cores that you have, how much do they cost?"

"That largely depends on the kind of dust and the importance of it on the market," He answered quickly, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping to get like… four Concussive Dust cores? I know that's asking for a lot, but I'm willing to pay as much as I can from my own bank account. I don't want to keep using up Dust in every fight and end up burning through my mom's Lien." Wolfram was quiet for a while, think before he finally looked up. "Well, I'm fairly certain that there's never been a Concussion Dust-Core ever made, it wouldn't be all that hard to create one per say."

"Wait, _make_ one?"

"Well, yeah," He shrugged, "Natural deposits of a pure dust-type take a long period of time to form cores. Since Concussive Dust is a bunch of _several_ dust-types mixed to create a unique one, like Hardlight-Dust, then it should take a lot less time for a core to form without having to use a ton of dust. Still, a process like that might take two to three months to form. Even then, it won't be perfect, since pure Dust-cores are simpler in nature. Aside from that, I could actually make one right here, so don't worry about paying me."

"Th-thanks Wolfram! I swear that I'll repay you for it!" His eyebrows went up before a smile crossed his face. "Riot, I already told you, don't worry about paying me back for something like this. You're my teammate, and you deserved to be treated as such."

"Sure, but I'll still pay you back," I answered firmly, only to be stopped by Asuka.

"Riot, it's his choice to give it to you for free. If it helps, you might as well take it. Besides," She gave him the side-eye and smirked widely, "It's time that he did _something_ useful as a leader." A shiver ran down my spine as the previously happy look on his face was wiped away: his eyes were cold and unfeeling, the air around him going a bit cold. He turned to face her, and though she didn't show it, she was caught off guard. "I'm sorry_, could you kindly repeat what you just said?_"

"I _said_, you're _finally_ doing something useful as a leader," she responded with a bit more bite into her voice. He suddenly took a _really_ bold step forward, that frigid feeling around his body getting more intense. "Oh? Something _useful_, you say? Remind me again, as petty as it may sound, who's taking more classes than you?" She shifted backwards, visibly uncomfortable. "Who's _already_ at the top of the class with their grades? Who was it who came up with the plan to beat the Nergigante? _Please_, be my guest and remind me who's statistically doing the most for the team right now."

"S-statistics don't matter!" She shot back, though she was visibly faltering.

"Ah, you're right. They don't matter. **Results** matter." Asuka looked like she was physically struck, her eyes wide and body trembling. "In comparison to me, what have _you_ done? You fight decently, but otherwise you lack any real growth. Sure, you can use dust, but it's all flash and no substance. Should I get started on your sheer stupidity at deciding to _only_ choose mandatory classes?"

"Shut up."

"With how absolutely _subpar_ you are, you just put _everyone_ in our team at risk. One screw up and we'll be sent to the very bottom of the charts."

"Shut. Up."

"Um, Wolfram, I think she's got the point…!" I started weakly.

"You have the audacity to tell me _I'm_ not doing enough? Riot is consistently performing like a madman, and as lazy as Terra seems, she's been also staying on top and _ahead_ of things. You? You're the _weakest_ of us."

"Shut-!"

"All bark and no bite!"

"Sh-!"

"You don't produce **results**. You have achieved **nothing**."

"_SHUT THE FUCK UP!_" Her body exploded with lightning and fire, her fist moving too fast for me to stop as it screamed for his torso. The ***BOOM*** threw me back, forcing me to flip and land in a crouch. Looking up, I was expecting Wolfram to be reduced to a smear on the wall furthest from us, but what I saw made my jaw drop. He was holding her fist with one hand: just an inch away from his chest… but holding it all the same. Asuka was staring at him with shock, awe and fear clear as day on her face. His clothes weren't even scorched or ruffled in the slightest, his body unmoved. The most terrifying part though. His _eyes_. His eyes were _glyphs_, almost exactly like the ones that the Schnees used. '_But his Semblance lets him shape any metal that he touches in whatever way he wants! So how… no…_' When I came to the realisation, there was this feeling of raw excitement in my chest. '_Two Semblances!?_'

"What in the name of God do you think you're doing!? I told you not to discharge dust towards the centre of the room!" Professor Belladonna snapped as she briskly walked over towards us. The intense emotion in the air suddenly vanished, a sheepish expression on his face as he quickly turned to face her. "Sorry Professor, that fault is mine. I simply wanted to test out the effectiveness of my Hardlight Dust in comparison to other Dust-enhanced attacks. My confidence, justified or not, isn't an excuse for reckless behaviour on my part." To prove his point, he held up his hand and smoothly activated a barrier to cover up what happened. She huffed, clearly annoyed but decided to let it slide.

"_Don't_ let it happen again." Her eyes flicked over to Asuka, who was just standing there with her head hung low, shading her eyes with her hair. Professor's eyes narrowed, but she opted to let it go, seeing her uninjured. As soon as she was gone, Wolfram whirled around, staring right back into Asuka's eyes with a sneer on his face. "Predictable, wild, too telegraphed, no control, and most importantly **weak**." He turned his head to the side and hacked something up into his mouth, _spitting_ on the ground right next to her. "Don't you **dare** judge me when you can't even pull your own weight."

"Wolfram, please stop!" I said, quickly rushing in between them and pushing him apart. "I-I think she gets it." He paused and his face turned serene again, slightly bowing at me. "Oh, sorry about that. I'll admit that I got a little heated there," He chuckled, throwing me for a loop. It was like someone flipped a switch, and he was back to the firm but kind guy that I knew. Not the cold, sharp and cruel person who just mentally picked Asuka apart without any effort at all. "I'm going to go off and cool down a bit, I'll be back to join you." As he walked off, I turned to Asuka, taking in her trembling body.

"…Hey," I started, though she quickly whipped around, going over to one of the fresher punching-bags, activating her Semblance, her fire-dust and her lightning-dust. Wordlessly, she began pounding away at the bag like there was no tomorrow, her fists quickly turning into a blur. Fingers and writhing serpents of electricity were accompanied with bursts of roaring flame. Her average Psi was at 7000, temperatures reaching 2500 degrees Fahrenheit and her highest voltage at 1 million. _Still_ she wasn't satisfied, beating on it harder and harder, the numbers slowly rising. Thirty seconds in, and she started to slow down dramatically, the numbers dropping off instantly before she came to a complete stop. She was panting for air, keeling over as her arms trembled and steamed from the use of fire and lightning. I as soon as she was done, I walked up to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "…You feeling a bit better?"

"…A bit," She muttered, wiping some sweat from her nose. She turned to look at me, and I felt struck by the rage and pain in her eyes, tears threatening to drop loose. "Y'know what would be better? If I just _killed_ his ass." She was serious too. I'd never seen her so hurt, so torn up, and so murderous. She basically had every experience she went through thrown right back at her feet and stomped on by Wolfram. She was like a big sister to me, and it did make me a little mad that Wolfram ripped her a new one like that. But despite that… he wasn't necessarily in the _wrong_ with what he said. After the Diavolo incident, she had become less brash and more vindictive, arrogant even. She treated me the same, but anyone who she thought was weaker than her, she treated… differently. She _did_ grow stronger from the encounter, but something was… twisted. Every punch and kick she threw had something different behind them, there wasn't the usual confidence or sharp power they once had. Now, they were filled with the genuine intent to maim or cause permanent damage, regardless of whether she was aware of it or not. Even over the four short days we've become teammates, she did nothing but constantly harass and belittle him. This marked the first time I had ever seen him retaliate: scratch that, this was the first time I had ever seen anyone stand up to her and win so _convincingly_.

I was worried now. I know had my own set of issues to deal with, but I wanted to believe that I was willing to work past them in due time. Asuka? Slowly but surely, she was going to be engulfed by it, even if Wolfram called her out the way he did. "…You fucking _agree_ with him?" She choked out, shocked and enraged at my apparent betrayal. "I don't care how fancy his tech is or his two semblances, he's weak! He doesn't know what it means to risk your life, he hasn't faced death, he doesn't know _me_!" She snarled and grabbed me by the collar, yanking me closer and hissing, "You might think he's right, but I'll show you. I'll show _him_ when Combat-Class comes around. I'm going to _beat him to death_." She shoved me away and got up, ignoring the shaking in her arms and starting to rhythmically fire away at the bag again, wildly using up dust and throwing around her power without a care in the world. "Asuka," I said after a moment, getting her to stop and glare at me, though she stayed silent to let me speak. "…if you're going to try and kill him, you won't win. You may not lose, but you'll never truly win against him with the way you are now. I promise you that." I turned to walk away, but I spoke, "I'll be supporting you when you two clash, but you _need_ to change. I'll be supporting him too, because I hope he can show you what you're becoming."

She snarled, her blue and lilac eyes flashing as she charged her arm with the full extent of her aura, throwing out a lightning-wreathed right hook that ripped clean through the bag, some of its supports being torn off and making the entire thing wobble. I kept walking away from her, going to another side of the room. Nobody was staring thankfully, but I'm pretty sure that they caught bits and pieces of our less than civil conversation. '_Damn, it's probably going to reach the Headmaster soon enough. I just hope that he opts to stay out of this one,_' I worried, biting my lip at the thought of him intervening.

"Hey now, you good?" I felt someone nudge me and I turned to see Terra's sky-blue eyes and her usual lazy/content face. Though, she wasn't able to hide the concern she felt from the nervous tick that she had, lightly but rapidly tapping her left heel on the ground. The whole argument must've really unnerved her. "Yeah, I'm okay, just… worried, I guess."

"You seem really conflicted," She noted.

"Well, kinda. Wolfram was being harsh, sure, but he's pretty justified. Asuka's been harassing him nonstop for days. Plus, I should've realised that the entire 'incident' sort of changed her, not for the better either."

"Ah, they'll probably clash tomorrow then," She summarised, her eyes narrowing. "Who's got the better chance at winning?" I never really expected her to ask that, but it was a valid question regardless. "Well… it's not like I'm worried about Asuka. She's definitely stronger and faster than him, and her Semblance only amplifies that even further. Mix that in with the way she is now, and she actually could kill him." It was slight, but the tail wrapped around her waist twitched. "But despite all of that, despite being way stronger, way faster… I think he can win. He's just so damn versatile with his Metallurgy semblance! I bet that he could probably crush Asuka's weapons easily, so that would take away her dust options. Not to mention that armour of his, it's so insane how he's able to change it at will to fit the situation. His primary weapon is crazy, a beam-sword of pure concentrated plasma! A hit from that will definitely take off chunks of anyone's aura, regardless of how durable."

"It's a lightsaber, actually." I nearly jumped out of my skin as Wolfram seemed to pop up from nowhere, casually holding a metallic cylinder in his hand. "Told you I'd be back, didn't I?" He laughed lightly at my look of surprise that was probably still on my face before he calmed himself. "But yes, I thought it would be appropriate to name this type of weapon a lightsaber. It is a blade that uses a light-source as its primary method of attack, doesn't it?"

"I mean, beam-sword isn't inaccurate then is it?" Terra piped up with a raised brow.

"Hm… point taken," He agreed, "But lightsaber sounds significantly more eloquent. A civilised weapon for a civilised time."

"Fair enough," She conceded.

"Back to the topic at hand," He suddenly became serious, his hand clenching the hilt of his weapon, "We will fight tomorrow, and I have no doubt that it's going to get _messy_. Though… I do have to apologize for something." He turned to me, and I was surprised at the shame on his face. "I'm sorry for my incompetence as a leader, being unable to settle a dispute like this in a much better fashion. I only ask that tomorrow, you cheer for who you want to win wholeheartedly and without any second thoughts, regardless of our actions today." His eyes turned hard and his resolve shone through as he continued, "However, when the bell rings tomorrow, I will do what a leader should, and _end_ this petty dispute." His honesty and humility caught me off guard the most, willing to take responsibility for something that wasn't necessarily his fault and see it through to the end. Asuka was basically a sister to me, there wasn't a doubt in my mind about that. I'd still cheer for her in tomorrow's match, yet I couldn't help but hope that he could win. For Asuka to change, he had to win.

"On a happier note, I think that I finally figured out how to change the settings on my sabre!" He pointed it off to the side to that he didn't accidentally impale someone, a fascinating ***_SCHWOOM_*** coming from the hilt as it ignited in a flash of a brilliant, light-blue pillar of plasma. "I figured that having a weapon that does nothing but slice through metal like a hot knife through butter isn't exactly the safest thing to swing around, so I managed to adjust the output of the blade." His fingers subtly shifted and the glow of the blade seemed to die down just slightly. "Right now, I have three settings: stun, scorch and lethal. I've never got the opportunity to test the latter out." He walked over to the bags and I felt the tension spike right up: he chose the bag right next to Asuka. "The balls of this guy," Terra muttered, clearly as impressed as I was (if not incredibly terrified). She noticed and stopped dead in her tracks, the already twisted expression on her face going full on murderous as she pounded away even harder, all while staring at him. He paid her no mind, gently breathing out as his body relaxed. He took up a sideways-stance, right foot and weapon-hand in front, a traditional duellist's stance. His stance then changed to something more forward facing, legs apart and the blade held horizontally, rather similar to the far-east Mistralian samurai of old.

His body suddenly blurred into action, spinning and a flash of light before a horrible shrieking sound echoed through the room. He the twirled his sabre before he deactivated it, satisfied with the result. He should be: his simple but efficient slash had ripped clean through the bag, the smell of molten slag and electricity wafting through the air as he walked away. Everyone was staring, minds blown as their stares switched between the ruined bag and Wolfram's serene face as he walked back towards us. None of those stares even compared to Asuka's look of fury and fear, not that I could blame her. She may have wanted him dead, but he immediately sent the message out that he was very much capable of doing the same if he so chose to follow through. "God…" I muttered after a moment, snapping Terra out of her own shocked trance. "Tomorrow is going to be a goddamn _bloodbath_."

**Headmaster Oscar **

"So discord has already been sown into their team? Is it because of him?" I pondered, the thought of that cursed child bringing a swell of unpleasant emotions within me. "…No, it is not because of him. A shame." The fact that the spawn managed to make here under my nose, all because I didn't look out for some damn paperwork. The thought was enough to make me tremble with this near unbridled rage, my office very slightly vibrating before I managed to bottle it up and force my aura down with more than a bit of effort. "Ruby… you've always been the love of Oscar's life, yet you cannot see the threat that your son brings? You should know how dangerous he is." It saddened me to no end that I had to wrest control of his life and bury him deep within me, it really did. It did not change the fact that Riot Rose was by far the biggest potential threat that our new world could ever face if he was allowed to grow to his full potential. "And of course he took that damned Arc's class on aura too. If he should learn how to advance his aura, what will become of the power hidden within his soul?" The very idea was enough to make me shudder in a combination of disgust and fear. I already had half a mind to simply erase his very existence from the face of Remnant itself, had it not been for the two obvious obstacles of Ruby herself, and the press should they ever find out.

'**_Touch my son, and I'll tear our souls apart, no matter the cost!_**' A voice roared in my head. A sharp, agonising pain echoed through…

_-my-his-their-**our** mind-_

"I AM IN CONTROL," I said aloud, forcing the cries of those before me to be silent. Though, no matter how hard I tried, his voice always lingered, _refusing_ to stay down forever. "… I'm so sorry Oscar. I'm so sorry that I've done this to you," I sighed, the weight of many years weighing upon my soul. "…but I cannot risk it. I cannot risk another threat like _her_ allowed to grow again and destroy this new world, this new _peace_ of ours." I grabbed my cup of coffee and stared over Beacon Academy, basking in its newfound strength, what it could mean for our world. "…If the time should come… no, _when_ the time will come, the moment he shows a single sign of her power, I swear on the safety of all mankind that I will **destroy** Riot, and scatter his remains to the wind."

**To Be Continued...**

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**Looks like Oscar isn't who he seems to be! It should be more or less obvious what's going on with him, but in case you don't get it, I'll be saving things for the 'Volume 1' finale of the story. Oh. Yeah, look forward to that I guess. More building around the characters and interactions in this chapter, hopefully it was good But next chapter is going to be WILD. Stay tuned for that, and peace out!**


	14. Heavy is the head

**Another upload? Yeah, well I couldn't rest until I got this thing out as soon as possible. Not my best fight-scene, but one that I'm quite proud of. Enjoy!**

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**Second Song**

**Chapter 9**

**He who bears the crown**

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**Wolfram**

When I woke up, my head immediately turned to see Asuka's bed empty. No surprise there, she was probably already eating breakfast and getting ready. From the way her bag was left open and strewn on the floor in a very aggressive manner, I could very well deduce that she had her weapons with her. Oh well. I checked my scroll and smirked at the time: 7:15 in the morning, the perfect amount of rest allowing me to perform at my maximum level of efficiency. Swinging my legs over the bed, I landed deftly and quickly went to my suitcase, opening it up and smiling at the sight of my saber-hilt. "You seem pretty lively this morning," I heard a voice mumble above me, looking up to come face-to-face with a very sleepy-looking Terra, also known as her regular morning-face. I chuckled slightly, patting her on the head as I stood up, "I guess I am. I suppose that my blood is pumping a bit harder than it normally does this morning." She seemed to truly wake up at that, her eyes going sharp as she smoothly got out of bed. "Ah, you're missing your pants," I pointed out with a little snicker, turning my head to spare her privacy.

"Oh damn, sorry about that," She sighed, the sound of rustling heard before she tapped my shoulder, letting me know she was decent in some shorts. "So… do you think you can do it?" She asked after a moment of packing her bag with extra clothes. "Do you think you can win against her?" I paused at that. Why was my heart beating faster than it normally did? Obviously it had to do with the fight that was to come, by for what reason? Was it because of the battle itself, or the idea that I would win, and establish my pride against her? '_I am a Schnee, and it is my right that I should do so._' My vision tunnelled, and it started to overtake me. '_She wants me to act as a Team leader? So be it. I will crush her underneath my heel and-!_' My throat locked up and I snapped back to reality, breathing gently as I let my pride seep away. "…I believe I can win, yes. I _must_," I said simply, picking up my combat clothes and walking to the bathroom. "But if I have any chance to win, then I'm afraid that this fight will get a bit messy."

The door to the bathroom opened to reveal Riot fully dressed in his combat gear, his hands in his pockets unable to hide the shaking. "If you two are going to get messy, then just… please don't break her. She needs sense slapped into her, for sure, but…" I put a hand on his shoulder, making him look at me. "Riot, you know I cannot let her idiocy pass, and we are both well aware of how this fight will go. But I promised that I will end this foolishness. I have acted as just Wolfram for too long. It is time that I fight as Wolfram _Schnee_." The declaration seemed to make Riot wither slightly, the sadness and acceptance in his eyes making me wince internally. There was no going back though, and I had promised that I was going to end this foolishness. "Let's go," I said as soon as we were all ready. Combat Class was the first lesson in the morning and was to take place in the open combat-fields, which had been recently repaired by Oscar himself, though it apparently took him a fair amount of time to do so. Breakfast between the three of us was silent, though I couldn't bring myself to care. I didn't even really pay attention to what I was eating, standing after I finished and immediately walking towards where the class was going to take place. The sun had already crested the horizon, revealing a handful of other people who were there early. They were whispering among each other, their glances shifting between me and the other person who was standing out in the middle of the field.

Asuka had her arms crossed and her eyes closed, a deep scowl etched onto her face. Her eyes snapped open as soon as I came close, her face contorting into a deep, unbridled hatred that was aimed at me. Deciding to toy with her for a bit, I sat down cross-legged on the grass and waited, staring right back at her. She trembled and her eyes flashed a burning orange, clearly trying to force down the urge to jump and attack me. '_Good, she's unfocused,_' I thought as I openly smirked, driving her insane. Her aura was visibly rising, her body so tightly wound up that I was sure she would combust on the spot. Professor Asuka came not long after with her usual cheerful bravado, shouting for all of our attention. "Hellooo everyone! Hope you all had a good night's rest because we've got no time to… waste…" She trailed off as she noticed the tension in the air, not to mention the raw animosity between Asuka and I. "Hmm, anyway," She started again, "I'm pretty sure you noticed that our class is taking place in a big open field, which we could've used sooner if _someone_ didn't wreak it." She looking at that someone with a playful glint in her eyes, Riot sheepishly hiding his face in his hoodie, still not able to hide how red his face had become. "Either way, this is for everyone who has better ranged abilities to shine today! So whoever wants to-"

"Stand the fuck up Wolfram, I'm getting sick of your bullshit," Asuka barked, cutting Yang off. I chuckled and stood up, casually dusting myself off to prepare for what was to come. "…looks like someone's made arrangements beforehand," Miss Yang joked, though she couldn't hide the worry for her daughter in her eyes. "I'm guessing you two want to fight it out first then?"

"If that little shit's up for it, then yeah," Asuka snarled.

"Well, I suppose I am," I said airily, idly rolling my shoulders and activating parts of my suit to cover my chest, arms and feet.

"Okay then, you have thirty seconds to find a starting position on the field before you start. Rules are the same, and don't be afraid to tear the place up. Everyone else, step to the safe-zone and make sure that you don't get stuck inside the Hardlight field. Thirty seconds on the clock starting… now!" Immediately, I activated the thrusters on my boots and flew off, landing about fifty meters away from Asuka on a small hill, the sun behind my back. "Off to a good starting position," I muttered, "She'll charge me blindly and try to engage in a close-range brawl."

"Ten seconds left!"

'_Time flies huh?_' I pondered, before breathing out, staring directly into Asuka's eyes. Even blinded by the sun behind me, she knew I was looking at her and snarled, her aura bursting around her body as she got ready to sprint. '_Now… you think that I'm weak? I'll show you otherwise, deadweight!_'

"Three! Two! One! _BEGIN_!"

"I'm gonna beat the shit out of you Schnee!" Asuka roared, immediately taking off like a bullet. I kissed my teeth and pointed my open palms at her, channelling dust into them. As soon as they were charged up, I fired a barrage of white-hot dust-beams, dozens of them racing through the air towards her. Her eyes went wide and she tried to dodge, successful in some cases but being forced to a stop about fifteen meters away from me, rapidly pumping her arms and legs to try and deflect them. Regardless, they were already starting to impact her, a beam nailing her on the leg and sending her stumbling back as another clipped her shoulder, the wince on her face making it obvious that it hurt. Good. "Final FLASH!" I shouted thrusting both palms at her and unleashing a quick but massive burst of dust at her. Unable to dodge it, she crossed her arms and took it head on, a quick explosion of heat throwing her backwards head over heels, though she managed to land smoothly enough. "_Asuka's Aura-levels, 89%,_" My HUD informed me, though I didn't much care. She tried to rush at me again but I launched another storm of blasts, getting a bit more creative as I put different dust-effects into them.

A blast hit her knee and froze from there down, keeping her still as another one laced with lightning hit her in the chest, her body spasming before a final one filled with gravity snapped her head back, her body slammed into the floor face-first. "Oh come now, we've barely even started," I called out, sitting down and tapping my knee. "Don't tell me that you talked all that _hot shit_ and now you can't back it up? I suppose that I was right then, you _are_ pretty worthless as a huntress." The air suddenly exploded with heat, the ground steaming as Asuka pulled herself out of the ground. Her bloodshot eyes had streams of flame emanating from them, her skin turning a deep pink as the steam from her body took on a slightly more smoky and thick appearance. Her aura lashed around her wildly, scorching the dirt under her. "You're going to **fucking die** today." I knew that her semblance was the Accelerate something, so judging from the extreme changes to her body, I knew that she was directly increasing the flow of her blood throughout her entire body to its absolute maximum degree. The only reason that she didn't die outright was her aura being used up to reinforce her body from failing. Still, for her to push it to this degree…

'_The real fight begins now,_' I thought as I stood, forming my armour into its strongest and most durable configuration, the shoulder-pauldrons, chestplate, gauntlets and leggings growing denser and taking on a sharper, more sinister appearance. My helmet morphed into something closer to the shape of a classical knight's helmet, the visor becoming a single glowing slit across my face and a thin but lengthy plume flowing from the back of my head. "**Configuration: Lancelot!**" Multiple tendrils of writing metal sprouted from the back of my suit, smaller by high-quality dust-exhausts on the ends of them as all twelve of them pointed at her. She charged at me, the ground bursting beneath her feet as she closed the distance between us in seconds, dodging my initial set of blasts and cocking her fist back. "**Void Strike, Black Turtle!**" She was blindingly fast, my own arms barely moving in time to block the strike, the gravity-dust in her fist blasting me off my feet and into another hill. "Even with Lancelot, my arms are still ringing," I muttered, quickly leaping into the air and landing elsewhere as she slammed herself right where I was once standing, the ground exploding in a shower of burning dirt. Wasting no time, I pointed all my tendrils and opened fire with everything I had. Gravity, lightning, fire, pressurised wind, water, I wanted to overwhelm her with the ranged advantage that I had, and it seemed to be working. Her aura was steadily going down no thanks to the extra effects aced into each blast: she could block or deflect the initial impact, but the secondary dust will always damage her. Still though, I caught glimpses of her face, and that deep-seated rage seemed to grow with each passing second. '_Yes, hate me! Aim your full intent to kill me, and I'll utterly crush you under my heel!_' I thought as a grin split my face.

Not happy with being stuck in one place, she had enough common sense to use a massive burst of wind and gravity-dust to deflect my blasts, tearing through the air as she raced right at me again, using up her own cache of dust to counter my own. Again she managed to reach me and she immediately started to throw out terrifyingly fast and powerful combinations. Right hook, left straight, left hook, right uppercut. Yet despite her overwhelming speed and strength in comparison to me, there was one glaring problem. "You can't hit for shit!" I cackled as I used a combination of footwork, dust, and simple perception to dodge her blows. "You really thought you could just walk in here, spout some idiocy about killing me and then fight like some backstreet brawler?!" She missed another right hook and I quickly used a small blast right by her foot to upset her balance, the distraction enough for me to wrap a tendril around her arm and yank her into to air. Pointing my palms at her again, I unleashed another big burst of dust that slammed into her defenceless form, sending her body careening through the air and crashing into the floor. "You don't have what it takes to beat me, you third-rate fighter!" She got up again, but I didn't give her the room to recover as I raced towards her and planted my foot in her face with a ***BANG***, her body flung into the ground.

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed, clawing her way to her feet and launching a stream of fire right at me. I just held out a hand and activated another feature of my suit: recharge. The fire was absorbed right into the suit, and the thermal energy used to recharge one of the Dust-Cores that powered the armour itself. I leapt away again as she launched her high-pressure water attack, the draconic figure carving through the dirt like wet paper. '_That might pose a problem, even if my suit is water-proof,_' I thought. Looking back, I flinched in surprise as I saw her right in front of me again: her skin was practically red this time, eyes crying tears of blood as foot blurred faster than I could dodge. ***CRACK***. My vision went blurry and I felt my body crash through several meters of dirt and hills. "_Helmet breached, repairs underway._" I definitely had a concussion, but I forced myself to my feet and immediately leapt up as high as I could with a quick boost from my thrusters. "I told you that you'd fucking die today. I'm done holding back," She said from behind me. I turned to try and counter, only for her heel to crash right into my ribs, another *SNAP* echoing through my mind as I shot straight into the ground. "_Floating rib broken, aura negating swelling and mending damage._" Again I tried to establish my range, willing my tendrils to open fire with gravity, combustion and wind to try and give me greater breathing room, but Asuka was too fast for my projectiles to reach her in time, and I was the one too slow to react to her movements, however wild they were. "Raging Storm, White Tiger," She snarled, her wind-dust helping her movements speed-up even further before her constant left-right rook combination tore into me. I called the tendrils back into my body to strengthen the integrity of my armour as much as possible, keeping my guard up as my body was thrashed around. '_My arms are going to break, even with my Lancelot configuration…_' I thought as that wave of scorn and pride engulfed me once more. '_Who the **hell** does she think she's dealing with?_'

"**You will not reach me.**" Her body stopped dead in its tracks and her eyes went wide, her body completely frozen. The familiar pressure behind my eyes was all the indication that I needed that my second Semblance was now in effect. Charging my right gauntlet with the full force of gravity and pressurised air, the metal vibrated and glowed violently. "**Increase velocity.**" My fist shot forward and crashed into her face with a resounding *BOOM*, her body flying through the air and slamming right on the hard-light shield that surrounded the combat-field. '_That's two charges gone, but one more should be enough to crush her like an ant,_' I thought with another smirk as she struggled to get to her feet. '_Look at her: she can't even stand upright! Sure, she can close the distance, but if she does that one more time, I'll end her miserable existence._' She did just that, raggedly trying to dash at me, though her speed wasn't as sharp as it used to be. I blasted off with my thrusters to meet her, my pride soaring as I charged up my fist once more with dust to completely obliterate her. '_Your end is here, brat!_' I thought as I cocked my fist back in time with hers. I wanted her to look me in the eye, to remember that I was the one who was ground her to dust. When she looked at me though, something in my chest twisted. Those tears of blood were mixed with actual tears. She was crying. The despair and fear on her face was so clear to see that it hurt.

'_…Wait, did I do this to her?_'

***BANG***. My head snapped back and I was flung into another hill, but as much as my ears were ringing, I knew that she hadn't put her full strength behind that attack. I quickly leapt to my feet to see her standing there, the despair on her face only deepening. "What, now you want to hold back!? Fucking _fight_ me like you mean it you dickhead!" She screamed, tears streaming from her eyes. She dashed at me and lashed out with her fists and feet, and I could've dodged, I could've blasted her away, I could've used my 'Ruler' to completely obliterate her… but I stood and blocked as best as I could. "FIGHT ME! _PLEASE_!" she screamed hoarsely, her attacks more and more desperate. '_I did this to her. I fucking did this to her!_' I thought in a daze, the pride that was previously swelling in me now completely dead. '_I… I shouldn't fight like a Schnee here._' A kick to my already broken rib made me wince, but I stood tall. '_I need to fight as her leader! What kind of Hunter would I be if I didn't?!_' She roared as she shot her fist right into my chest, all the air leaving my lungs: and still I stood, ready as she cocked her other hand back. _'I WILL HELP YOU!' _

**_SCHWOOOM_**

**Cue Music: Fate Stay Night OST, Emiya original version extended **

"HAA!" I breathed out sharply, instantly forming my lightsaber in its 'scorch' setting and meeting her fist with my own sharp swing. Her knuckles met the blade with a sharp, grating *_SCHIIING_*, both of us stumbling backwards from the recoil of the clash. '_It worked! The Hardlight field can be laced with other dust-types!_' Putting the thought aside, I looked up and met her surprised look with my own determined one. "I hear you Asuka… I hear you loud and clear!" Standing as straight as I could, I pointed my saber at her and shouted, "Give me everything you've got, because I'm going to be taking you seriously now." Breathing in shallowly to make sure I didn't aggravate my healing rib, I quickly twirled my saber and shifted my stance to that of a duelist's. "Do you think you have what it takes to keep up?" She snarled and got back into her own stance, though through her aggression, I could see the hint of confusion on her face. '_This is stupid. All my nanobots need to be used for my lightsaber, so no armour. I'm going to get really badly hurt, and she'll crush me at close range._' Yet, I couldn't help but smile a bit. '_But if this is what it takes, then so be it!_'

"Keep up? I'LL KILL YOU!" She bellowed, dashing forward with clenched fists. I dashed to meet her, twisting my wrist to bring my saber to race towards her ribs. "Too slow!" She shouted, her movements sharper and more focused than they were previously, her fist batting away my initial strike. My body spun with it, not letting my flow be disrupted as I twirled and swung at her neck. She ducked under and widened her stance, lowering her center of gravity, all too similar to Riot's technique. '_Endure the barrage!_' Instead of shifting her weight, it was more like she planted her feet and used her body like a piston, firing off a hail of sharp and deadly punches. I never stopped my body from moving, working my wrist like a madman to deflect, block and counterattack. Even with my technique, this was ultimately her best range, taking my swift attacks head on and managing to land blows of her own. '_Don't stand right in front of her, get creative and find new angles of attack!_' Deflecting another straight-right, I swiftly pivoted and stepped to her far right, slashing with both hands and scoring on her ribs. She winced but stood her ground, lashing out with another right that clipped my cheek, powerful enough to crack bone through my aura.

'_Too obvious, more dynamic!_' I suddenly flipped into the air and swiped at her head twice, forcing her to stop attacking and put up her guard, streaks of glowing metal left in my wake before I landed in a deep crouch, thrusting at her stomach. Even on 'scorch', the clean hit burned a hole through the exposed Kevlar, forcing her backwards to try and regain her balance. '_Take the initiative!_' Dashing to her, I pressed the advantage and switched back to my duellist-based attacks, quick slashes and thrusts meant to quickly and efficiently cut her aura down. Even on the backfoot she was dangerous, able to attack and defend with sharp accuracy. '_She's not overworking her semblance as hard as she used to, but she's using far more of her skill than normal. Good!_' The despair and rage slowly bled from her face, replaced by an intense focus and concentration that had never been seen before in her previous matches. _'This is the real Asuka!_' Her backpedalling soon stopped and we were fighting toe to toe. The wild, burning speed and power behind her attacks were now fully supported by her sharp and compact technique. My rib screamed at my constant movements, and my pride roared at me to just crush her with the power of Ruler. '_I refuse!_' I roared to myself and her roundhouse-kick clashed with my diagonal slash, sparks flying everywhere. '_She wasn't wrong when she said that I wasn't acting as a leader. This is where I fulfil my duty!_' I gnashed my teeth together as another punch rocked my chest and lashed out with my elbow, hitting her squarely in the jaw. '_She still hasn't seen it yet though,_' I realized as I saw the focused hatred in her eyes, even if it wasn't really focused at me. '_She may respect me at the end of this, but she won't see the truth behind her actions until it's too late._' Her foot shot straight up and forced me to backstep from the trail of smoke and fire, though it was nowhere near as hot as it should have been. It was a sly but masterful setup, her other foot suddenly piercing through the distraction and almost clipping my ribs again.

_'…I have one way,_' I thought after a moment, grimacing as she pressed her own attack and forced me backwards. '_But it's definitely going to suck._'

"You call this your all?" I taunted, "I know you can go further than this!"

"Tch, you want more? Fine, you asked for it Schnee!" She roared back, more weight behind her attacks following shortly afterwards. Trying to match her with a weapon as light as my lightsaber was suicide, every punch or kick batting my weapon aside and disrupting my flow. "Time to switch it up." Surprising her with a sudden sidekick that landed square on her stomach, it gave me enough breathing-room to deactivate the lightsaber and willed the nanobots to shape into something a bit more my style. Shifting like sand, they formed a three-foot long straight-sword, the symbol of the Schnee family embedded at the very base of the blade above the hilt, it's edges alight with Hardlight. It was meant to be a symbol of those who would inherit the title of King, and in this case, my status as heir filled the role quite nicely. Such was the sword, "**Caliburn**!" Drawing on the extra reserves of aura, I roared as I blasted forward and swung down with all my might, activating the gravity-dust to increase the weight tenfold. Her eyes went wide and she frantically put her guard up, a resounding ***CLANG*** echoing through the field as the ground under her feet cracked and heaved from the impact.

"First a tank, then a duellist and now a swordsman?" She growled, straining against the weight bearing down on her. "Just stick to one, you damn overachiever!"

"Why not? It's my job to be good at everything!" I shouted back, flipping over her head and landing behind her. She had already turned to meet my thrust with a sidekick, the clash leaving us both at a standstill for the moment. Gritting my teeth, I pulled back slightly and swung straight up, almost knocking her onto the seat of her pants had she not cartwheeled back into her stance. '_Here goes nothing!_'

"YOU'RE THROUGH, ASUKAAA!" I roared, firing up my aura and pouring it right into Caliburn, the sword glowing brightly as I held it by my side, leaping and thrusting forward with all my might. "YOU FIRST, WOLFRAAAAM!" She screamed right back, meeting my charge with her own. I bellowed as Caliburn let loose a beam of light that tore through the air and punched a hole through the Hardlight-barrier at the other end of the arena. Asuka had already got right by my chest with one more burst of her semblance, her right fist cocked back. '_Here goes… time to grit those damn teeth!_'

***_CRUNCH-SPLAT_***

**End Music **

One of the first things that registered in my mind was a sound that was something fleshy breaking, like a watermelon being dropped on concrete. The second thing that I registered was that my body was weightless, careening through the air like a piece of paper through the wind. Or like a plastic bag. I couldn't really move my limbs, but at the same time, it was kind of peaceful. Then, my body crashed into the ground, and pure agony wracked me to my very body. I let out a choked scream, choked because a glob of blood rose to my throat and stopped me from screaming in the first place. Oh. Oh wow, that was a lot of blood coming from my mouth. '_Where is pain like this even coming from?_' I wondered idly, slowly looking down and freezing when I was pretty certain I saw the source. '_Huh. That's a hole in my stomach._' The affirmation made another wave of pain nearly suffocate me. Asuka stood with a bloody fist outstretched, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide as her body trembled. She was crying. '_Rapid blood loss, going into shock,_' I assessed as best as I could, shakily putting a hand on my stomach.

"M… MEDIC, SOMEONE GET A FUCKING MEDIC!" I heard her scream, though her voice was all strange and distorted. I could tell that she was sprinting towards me though, I supposed that such a fact was a good thing. "O-oh no oh god oh _fuck_," She panicked, the image of her face warping in my vision. "Stay with me you fucking dumb-ass, fuck there's so much blood! Oh god, I'm so sorry!" She was trembling, hands shaking wildly as she tried to give me some of her aura. The act was appreciated, but the healing would be too slow, even concentrating it on the wound would only do so much.

"…M… more… aura," I muttered, my mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. She heard me and drained herself dry giving me every last drop of her aura. I spotted the line of blood coming from her shoulder: the energy-release of Caliburn had managed to slice through her aura just before she could dodge in time, it seemed. "You're… hurt…"

"Fucking sh-shut up!" She sobbed, "Don't you dare die!" I grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look at me. I put on the best grin that I could muster and gave her a thumbs up. "I'll… be fine." Closing my eyes and pushing out her sudden screaming at the idea that I was dying, I willed my aura to flare to life, calling on that final charge that I hadn't used just yet. Did I even have enough aura to pull this off? Only one way to find out. My eyes snapped open, and everything was clear. "**Restore**." It was like someone jammed a car battery into my open wound, and I unashamedly screamed like there was no tomorrow. It felt like my flesh was being tugged and pulled into place by a bunch of needles and talons, constantly piercing and weaving together to create this one big haze of pain. It felt like it went on forever, yet it also seemed like it ended almost as soon as it started. The sudden changes of sensation to sensation made my eyes roll up into my head, and my consciousness was switched off like a light. Vision faded to black, and I knew only bliss, the sensation of a warm hand on my face finally letting me relax.

**To be Continued...**

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**Yeah. Well, that happened. Is he dead? Hell, probably. Seriously though, I hope that you all enjoyed the fight and the emotion that went into it, it's not the most complex fight that I've done, but at the same time, it's one of my better ones using both emotion and technique thrown into the mix. Take care, and peace out.**


	15. Reconcile

**Finally hit 3k views! Thank you so much! Let's get right back into the story then, no time to waste.**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter 10 **

**Reconcile**

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**Asuka**

"Where is the wound?" Dad asked loudly as Wolfram was laid out on the bed in the medical ward of Beacon, his face completely serene. "It was right under his diaphragm, his upper abdominal walls were perforated and his stomach, large intestine and liver also suffered some superficial damage," Mom was quick to respond.

"…It's surprisingly well healed," Dad said after a moment as he ripped Wolfram's undershirt off. He put a hand on where his wound was supposed to be, closing his eyes and concentrating. "This is actually incredible. With a wound as severe as you'd described, having his aura pierced and with all that force, he'd have survived for… three minutes at the absolute max if he were by himself and out in the field. And that's considering he _still_ had aura trying to heal him too!"

"Are we in the clear then?"

"Not just yet. His organs are still inflamed from burns, there's minor internal bleeding and he's still lost a lot of blood. Even if I rack up my semblance as high as it can go and amped up his aura, he still might suffer long-term from a lack of oxygen." The sound of that made my already numb body go cold.

"…I'll give him blood," I spoke up, getting their attention, "Please, _I_ did this to him. Let me do something right…" My voice croaked and I struggled to hold in tears, my hands shaking as the image of my fist punching right into his flesh replayed in my mind. A hand on my shoulder snapped me out of it, and I looked up to see dad with a bright smile on his face. "Kid, don't worry about it. Freak accidents happen, and your ability to respond as quickly as you did was admirable."

"Dad, he could've fucking _died_ because of me!" I shouted, not caring about the tears streaming down my face.

"No, he wouldn't have," He said back strongly, yet his face still remained gentle, "Because you've got people like your mother and I here. This isn't the first time that we've dealt with injuries like this, and the fact that you responded as fast as you did only means that he'll recover that much quicker."

"Plus, there's no need for you to give any blood," Mom piped up with a grin, idly holding a bag of blood in her hand, "We've got things like these stored up for accidents like these. Besides, you won't need to worry about any of his other injuries too, your dad is more than capable of patching those up. He'll be just fine." The news of Wolfram making a full recovery soothed me a bit. But the entire thing felt way to familiar in a sickening way: the injury, the blood on my fist, the raging violence that I let freely explode from my body. It was just like…

"Regardless of accident or not," A voice behind me said, all of us turning around. Both mom and dad's faces hardened, tension immediately rising in the room as Headmaster Oscar walked into the room, a snide and disgusted look on his face. "Your careless actions could have been fatal had the sufficient care not been provided. If you were in the field, your lack of awareness would have resulted in the untimely death of your partner."

"Oscar, they were in the middle of freaking combat, against each _other_," Mom snarled as dad quickly went to work, needling him and giving Wolfram blood. "I was there to witness the whole thing. It was a freak accident, Wolfram launched an attack that focused his aura away from his body, and Asuka aimed for his blind spot. It's what we're _trained_ to do."

"Perhaps," He conceded, before he leaned in to look me dead in the eyes. "But was it not you who vowed to kill him in the match today?" My heart dropped to my stomach, and I couldn't meet those eyes that pierced right through me. "Oscar-!" Mom started before to completely cut her off.

"Even if you were supposedly just talking, I find it strange that today has yielded a fatally-wounded student at your hand. This does bring into question of your most recent history in regards to your encounter with a certain individual, and how affected your behaviour has been because of it."

"How _dare_ you!?" Jaune shouted, storming right up to him, "You think that you can just waltz in here and dredge _that_ up to accuse my daughter of something as asinine as an _accident_!?"

"The similarities between the accounts are rather striking and it brings into question whether she's fit to be a Huntress."

"You have a lot of nerve suggesting some _bullshit_ like that," Mom snarled, standing right next to dad as her eyes burned red. "Is it though?" Oscar said with an eyebrow raised as he walked right next to Wolfram. "Here lies a student injured in an incredibly similar fashion in the way that Asuka was as well. Perhaps there is more to this situation than I may have initially thought then. For Asuka to have survived an encounter with Diavolo of all people, only to then take the opportunity to fatally injure one of our top prospects, who just so happens to be the son of one of Diavolo's greatest adversaries?"

"…You think that my daughter is fucking working for him!?" Mom roared, the room heating up as her hair burst into golden fire. I had never seen dad so livid before either, his body physically growing in size as his aura began to waft off of him. There was a sudden movement, and hand snatched Oscar's wrist. "W-Wolfram!" I gasped, everyone's eyes now on him. His pale face sweating buckets, but his eyes had changed into glyphs and the slight rise of his own aura that got Oscar's attention. "Oh my, it's good to see you already awake-!"

"**Not… her fault!**" He snarled, gripping his sleeve tighter. "**I… made her… do it!**" His eyes rolled into his head and her promptly passed out again. Without thinking, I dashed to his side, not sure of what to do besides just be there for him. "He's telling the truth," Dad said after a moment, glaring at Oscar.

"Th-that's preposterous, you'll take the word of someone stricken by blood-loss and delirium-?"

"Don't play dumb with me Oscar, you know that I can read auras. He's telling the truth," Dad said coldly as he strode up to him and poked his finger directly into Oscar's chest. "It was a freak accident. That's _all_. So don't you _dare_ throw around accusations like treason at my daughter. Do that again, and we're going to have some serious issues." The headmaster didn't back down, nor did he rise to the challenge either, kissing his teeth and swatting dad's hand away. "…Two day's suspension for the _both_ of them, and your team will drop by one rank," He snapped at me. "Regardless of accident or not, you need to learn a lesson on controlling yourselves."

"Oscar, it was an _accident_!" Mom shouted before I quickly grabbed her arm, shaking my head. "It's… it's fine mom," I said quietly. "I… still had a part to play in this."

"Then it is settled. You will both return to classes the following week, and you will be expected to catch up." He turned away sharply, briskly walking out of the medical ward. I shuddered out a sob and the tears that were swelling in my eyes fall down my face. "He's been taking some serious liberties with his power," Mom muttered, frustrated as she gently rubbed my back. "It's almost like he's nothing like the Oscar that married my little sister." I tuned her out as I lost myself in my own swirling thoughts, conflict, confusion and fear being the most prominent.

_'Is… is Oscar right though? I know that I'm not helping him,_' I thought as my mind wandered to the image of _him_ and _his_ Stand piercing my stomach. '_Wolfram is just a stepping-stone! He brought this upon himself: you just did what you're good at,_' Another aggressive and sinister voice said in the back of my mind. '_You are strong. It is the **right** of the strong to **tear** the weak apart._' It was only after a second that I realized what that thought meant, horror and fear rising in myself. The image of Diavolo was replaced by _me_, his pitch-black shadow morphing into a spitting image of my grinning, snarling face as my fist ripped into Wolfram's chest-cavity. '_Is **that** what I'm fucking becoming?_' Tears flooded out of my eyes and I sobbed as I collapsed right by Wolfram's unconscious chest, my hand gripping his arm. My self-absorbed obsession with my strength since that moment had led right up to this moment.

_'I'm sorry. Fuck, I'm so sorry!_'

"Relax honey," Dad said in a soothing voice, stroking my hair to help me calm down, if only slightly. "Just relax. He's going to be all right." I cried my eyes out, unashamed at my sobbing for an hour straight. The exhaustion that hit me afterwards was more than enough to cause me to pass out right then and there.

**Later that evening…**

My eyes slowly cracked open, and one of the first things that I felt was the needy rumbling in my stomach. Ignoring it, I slowly rubbed the exhaustion out of my eyes as best as I could and turned to look at Wolfram. His face looked much healthier, his breathing deep, even and relaxed. "It's crazy how quickly he healed up," A soft voice said behind me. Riot was sitting on a chair behind me, Terra leaning on his shoulder and fast asleep. "That other Semblance of his is pretty crazy." I rubbed my eyes again and weakly muttered, "Hey."

"Hey Asuka," He chuckled back shyly, "How are you feeling?" I huffed out a breath and chewed on my lip, looking back at Wolfram. Groggy as I was, everything that had just happened was still clear enough in my mind. "…I'm not sure _what_ to feel," I said quietly, "But… had I really changed that much?" Riot sighed and leaned his head back, quiet for a moment. I dreaded the answer but knew that it was coming.

"…By as much as you think? No. But… you did change since then. I-I don't blame you for it," He stuttered to correct himself, and it did bring a little smile to my face. "But it was there. You got more… vindictive. The way you fought was harsher, more desperate." I nodded and felt tears welling in my eyes, quickly turning away to hide my shame. "I let my fear control me." His soft hum, as gentle as he intended it to be, felt like a knife in my heart.

"But… I think something's changed," He said after a moment, his voice a lot lighter and almost excited. "I think that this was the first time I've seen you fight like that. You were way more flexible with your Semblance, and your technique was sharper than ever. The next time we brawl is gonna be amazing!" I couldn't help but let out a slightly choked laugh at that: he was always looking forward to the next fight, the next clash of fists and will. "I've gotta ask you… what changed?"

"Changed?" I parroted, before I was lost in thought, my eyes turning to Wolfram for a second "…I mean… he called me out, I guess," I laughed, wiping my eyes, "Credit is due where credit is due. He's got some balls. And when he fought me today… I think that I would have lost anyway." Riot's eyebrows shot up in genuine shock. "You'd admit that?" I flipped him off and he grinned cheekily. "…Yeah. Yeah, I admit that. I completely underestimated him, and I thought that I could just rush in and kick his ass. He just… picked me apart. Even when I pushed my semblance beyond its limits, he took those hits like a champ and _fought_ _back_." The sickening image of my fist in his chest flashed in my mind again, and I struggled not to vomit.

"B-but I don't get why he did that! That was so fucking stupid of him!" I almost shouted, more tears springing from my eyes. "He knew that I was better at close-quarters combat than he was, so why the hell would he intentionally leave himself open-!"

"Could… you not be so loud?" I snapped my sight back to Wolfram, who's brows were furrowed in annoyance and a single eye was cracked open. "H-holy shit, you're awake-!"

"_Please_ quiet down, my head's still ringing," He sighed with a small laugh, immediately making me clam up. "How's your shoulder? Caliburn managed to scrape you there and I'm fairly sure that you ran out of aura before I passed out." Idly, I glanced at my shoulder where a dull pain constantly throbbed. "Oh… um, my dad healed it. It's fine, just sore." He sighed in relief to my surprise before looking to Riot with an eyebrow raised. "As much as I appreciate you being here, why is Terra asleep?" Riot just raised an eyebrow back.

"You're questioning why Terra of all people is asleep?"

"…fair point, fair point," Wolfram laughed softly, "But thank you all for being here, regardless of consciousness." Riot just nodded, a full smile on his own face. Terra was woken up by the movement of his shoulder, and she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes. When she saw Wolfram, a lazy smile graced her face. "Good evening die-hard, you look like you're doing pretty good."

"I'm a bit tired and sore, but besides that, I'd say yes, I'm doing quite well." Terra reached under the seat and pulled out two plastic containers full of food. "That's good, because I figured that you two would be hella-hungry. Asuka, the Philly Cheesesteak is for you and Wolfram, you've got the Chicken and Vegetable stew." The smell of the lunch that I missed made my stomach growled loudly, and while my first instinct was to snatch my food and wolf it down. However… I grabbed the stew and placed it on the mounted table in front of Wolfram, averting my eyes down as I muttered, "Here you go." Glancing up, I saw his wide and genuinely happy smile and I couldn't stop my face from heating up. He was kinda cute when he did that. "Thank you Asuka. I really have been lacking in nutrition as of today." He readily dug into his food, yet as fast as he ate, he never spilled, made a mess, or looked untidy. I tore into my own food when I got the chance, and a few minutes later, we were completely finished.

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't massively enjoy that," He sighed in content, patting his stomach before wincing. "I probably shouldn't be hitting myself that hard," He muttered in a strained voice. Riot and Terra both laughed but I felt my stomach twist up on the inside at his injury. "A-are you okay?" He closed his eyes and seemed to focus on something for a moment. "… Yes, I'll be fine. My organs are fully intact, but the soreness appears to be coming directly from my previously damaged muscle. I say that I'll be fine by… around tomorrow afternoon." The declaration calmed me down a little, but the sick feeling still remained.

"That's good to hear," Riot said, before his eyes flicked between the two of us. "W-well, I think that Terra and I are gonna take our leave and give you some time to relax. Asuka, your bed's ready for you whenever you're ready to come back." I gave him a silent thumbs up before he and Terra left, though right before she exited the room, she waved and winked at me. '_The hell?_' Wolfram and I sat in silence for a while. He seemed pretty content, that same serene look on his face. Me? I felt like a wreck on the inside. Should I ask him something? Should I walk out of here? Did he even want me here? "So," He said after a moment, completely startling me, "I suppose you have a few inquiries of me? That's judging by your contemplating fidgeting and the hesitation on your face." I stuttered for a moment before I bit my lip and turned away from him, trying to sort out the whirlwind of thoughts in my head. "I… I apologize," He said after a moment, "I meant to just poke fun at you, but if I make you uncomfortable then please don't hesitate to leave. I did just put you through a… _trying_ experience, to say the least."

"Why the fuck did you do something so stupid?" I blurted out, silencing him. "Fuck what I did, why did you leave yourself open on purpose!?" For the hundredth time today, tears formed in my eyes and I couldn't stop them. "You're the fucking smart one, so why did you do that?" I gripped the sheets tightly, unable to look up or through the haze of tears that stung my eyes and burned my throat with shame. "Did you just say that you did it to cover my ass? To pity me? I don't need your pity, _anyone's_ goddamn pity!" A and gripped my wrist hard, and I looked up to see an unnaturally fierce look on his face, one that made me shut up.

"Do you think that I'm soft enough to pity you? Don't make me laugh. I'm well aware of your strength, and I think today was the first time that I saw what you were capable of."

"So why? I could have killed you!"

"I know." His grip turned delicate, his hand trembling around my wrist. "I know that you could've killed me, but I took that chance because ultimately, what you said yesterday was right." The shame in his voice caught me off guard, and my silence was his signal to continue. "I… I haven't really been a good team leader, especially not to you. I don't want to brag, but I really could've ended the fight prematurely, you know? For the first time in a while, you riled up my pride, and I wanted to crush you." He looked directly at me, and something in his eyes seemed to shine brightly. "But I couldn't. That wouldn't have been right, because I saw that _you cried out for help_." I raised a brow but let him continue. "I know about the… incident with the Insurgency boss. All the signs were there: angrily lashing out, the sudden spike in arrogance, yet the innate fear of a person stronger than you. That incident has been forever imprinted within you and has permanently changed a part of you, no matter how small or large." He was right and it was _scary_ how accurate he was. '_Until now_, _did I never admit that to myself?_' I wondered.

"When I saw that look on your face when we fought, that look of despair and self-loathing, who the hell was I to act like a tyrant? You didn't deserve that, nor did you deserve pity. You deserved someone who could reach out to you. A real leader." The sincerity in his voice only made me tear up even more. "You needed to see what would become of yourself if you went down that path, where your arrogance in your power would lead to someone getting hurt. I'd rather be the first and the last, but it was a chance that I was willing to take." He sighed slightly and looked down, shame radiating from every pore of his body. "I… apologize again. My lack of competent leadership and my neglect of the emotional state of your conditioning is inexcusable. In addition, I should have realized that doing something as extreme and as idiotic as that could only bring about further trauma."

"Stop."

"I genuinely believe that I'm not fit to lead this team."

"Shut up."

"Nor do I deserve forgiveness for my actions."

"Fucking shut up!" I shouted, my body moving on its own. As awkward as the position was, my arms wrapped around him and I squeezed him tightly. It was embarrassing, but I swallowed my pride for once in my life to show my gratitude. Tears stained his shoulder as I buried my face in his shirt, openly crying. "You're a goddamn idiot, and an asshole! I've never met a dickhead like you before."

"…thank you?" He said after a moment, and I let out a snorted laugh, untangling my arms as I sat on the bed, right by his waist. "At the same time…" I sniffed and wiped my eyes with my sleeves, bowing my head slightly, "You've got balls enough to call me out, fight me to a draw and force me to face the reality of my actions. I'm only gonna say this once, so clear your damn ears and listen closely. Thank you." Gone was his calculated and measured face, now he was openly smiling like a giant goofball, radiating so much genuine joy that I swore it was physical. "You don't need to thank me for anything," He said after a moment, still smiling warmly. "But… I'm glad that I was able to get through to you." He held out his hand and said, "Let's work as partners, and rise our team to the top." I chuckled and wiped my eyes, clasping his hand in my own.

"I think that I can get behind that." We sat in silence for a bit longer, thank God it wasn't awkward anymore. Though, I still was curious about something, concerning our recent clash. "Hey."

"What's up?"

"That… thing you did in our fight. And yesterday too. I thought your semblance was metal-manipulation." He chuckled sheepishly and scratched his nose, unsure of what to say for the moment. "Well, it is my semblance. My first one, anyway."

"So you _do_ have two," I said, raising a brow. Two semblances in one person were really rare, but not unheard of. "I would have thought that you'd inherit the Glyphs that your mom has, but the only thing that I see related to that is your eyes. What's up with that?"

"Well…" He said after a moment, "I did inherit it, but it's… different. I haven't been practicing with my Semblance for the time that I've had it because I fear how widespread its effects may be. My mother's Glyphs let her invoke specific action into the world, right? Propulsion, Time-manipulation, and at her peak, Summoning." He blinked, and his entire attitude changed. He turned cold, unfeeling, his aura like ice. "Me? I don't just project specific actions. My aura can bend the laws of this world **to my very will**." The oppressive vibe in the room suddenly vanished and he was left with a sheepish look on his face. "Only issue is… I can only use it for three actions per-day."

"That's still broken as fu-!"

"And it has a one-meter range."

"…ah," I deadpanned. "That's why you used it right when I was about to punch you, right?" He nodded, tapping his chin as he was deep in thought. "Still, today was certainly a new experience for me in regards to my Ruler. It seems that I'm able to heal myself quite effectively, though it doesn't replace lost blood. Perhaps it was because I was focused solely on the broken flesh? I might be able to heal others with it too, at least to a certain extent."

"W-well," I spoke up to get his attention. "I'm going to be joining the Aura-Studies class when we get back, I've got some serious catching up to do. I think that you could join all of us, dad and Riot could probably give you some pointers on how to use it. You already managed to pick up on Enveloping better than Riot and I, so I think it could really help."

"I was already having thoughts about joining, but I guess you've sold me on that one," He laughed loudly before suddenly wincing. "Okay, still hurts to laugh like that." I snickered and lightly poked him on the forehead.

"So smart and still a dumb-ass."

"Rude," He pouted childishly, and I couldn't help but laugh at him. It was really nice seeming him being more open around me. A sudden yawn overcame me, and a wave of exhaustion hit my body like never before, now that all the tension had truly left me. "Go get some rest," He said firmly, "Both of us took a beating today. You'd best recover in a proper bed rather than in an uncomfortable chair." His reasoning was sound but I still hesitated. I had put a hole in his chest barely a few hours ago. "A-are you sure?" He smiled warmly, and again my face heated up for some damn reason.

"I'll be fine Asuka. If anything, I'll be in optimal condition to be walking around by tomorrow morning, so I'll certainly be seeing you. Thank you." I nodded and hopped off the side of the bed, making my way to the door soon after. "Asuka!" Pausing, I turned around with a raised brow. Did he change his mind? No, he just smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "You're the second person who pushed me this hard today. The first was my mother. I'm looking forward to when we can fight for real." There was a spark, a flare of pride in my chest and I smirked.

"Careful what you wish for, because you're gonna need more than a big brain an a broken semblance to deal with me."

"I'll hold you to that then," He grinned. I left soon after, and I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I could breathe for the first time in a long time. "_Thank you_," I muttered under my breath.

**Yang Xiao Long**

"Never would've thought that Ice-Queen's kid would be the one," I sighed after a moment, resting my head on Jaune's chest, "Honestly thought that it would be Riot. Guess I still got to see that big clash." He laughed and kissed my forehead, a little sigh working its way up my throat as he held me closer to him.

"True enough, true enough. But whatever the case, at least she's got someone else to lean on now," He sighed in relief, "It's good for her to cultivate her strength, but now that she's got the right mindset, she'll start to grow into a fine Huntress." I hummed before I yelped as I felt his fingers tickle my stomach. "H-hey, stop that!" I laughed before I devolved into shrieking laughter, his body rolling and pinning my arms above my head. I bit my lip and squirmed in excitement, muttering, "You're in a playful mood tonight."

"I guess I just had a really good day," He chuckled, a cheeky glint in his eyes.

"You realize that if Wolfram calls for help with something, we're gonna be too… preoccupied, right?" I said sternly, though I couldn't wipe the massive grin off my face.

"He's already healed, so he'll be just fine," He chuckled. The next hour of our night was really, really warm. Not that I minded.

** To be continued...**

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**So, we finally concluded the first piece of what I feel is real character development. Hope you all enjoyed, and peace out!**


	16. Hatred revealed

**Sorry for the slightly longer wait guys. This chapter is gonna be a bit... surprising, I think. Enjoy!**

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**Second Song **

**Chapter 11**

**Untamed Hatred**

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**Terra**

"This Flow is… really fucking difficult!" Asuka strained as she tried it out, struggling to regulate and control the movement of her aura around specific parts of her body in time with her actual attacks. "That because you can't relax~" I teased her as I danced around her stiff and clearly telegraphed attacks. "You're naturally full of fast-twitch muscles, but you're focusing too much on your Flow. You can't exactly hit me like that."

"Fucking noticed!" She shouted, moving to throw a choppy roundhouse kick at my head. I smoothly slipped under it and almost casually walked up to her exposed back and thrust my hip out into her behind, a yelp and a ***THUD*** letting me know that she fell on her face. "Dammit!" She gasped, rolling onto her back and all splayed out on the wooden floor, covered in sweat. She wasn't the only student having trouble either, others completely passed out trying and failing to contain their aura while using Flow. Professor Jaune had been teaching the class Flow today, and there were… varying results. Riot and I, having already been constantly practising it since the previous week were naturals, though I was pretty happy that I seemed to be the best out of the four of us. Wolfram was a bit shaky at first, but he was slowly getting better and better. For some reason though, Asuka was having a bit of a difficult time trying to get it down.

"Why the fuck…" She gasped, doing her best to sit up, "Is this so hard!?" Riot was standing a bit way from us, rapidly shifting his weight and throwing punches while using Flow. Even while practising, he called out to Asuka. "I warned you about getting used to just letting your aura constantly burst from your body! You've gotten so used to that now that control is gonna be harder to pick up!" She flipped him off and struggled to her feet, getting back into her fighting-stance with a shout of "Again!" I grinned and held my hands up in my own stance, bouncing on my toes. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, doing her best to keep a tight hold on her aura. "There we go. Concentrate and relax," I encouraged. I could tell from how bunched up her muscles were, she wanted to just charge and lash out with a blistering combination, but she managed to force the urge down and slowly stride towards me. Her moves were slow, the jab to my face quite obvious enough for me to dodge. Still, her Flow was surprisingly disciplined, even as she moved into another roundhouse kick and a follow-up hook-kick.

She started to get more creative even as the pace picked up, doubling up on her attacks and throwing out new and interesting strikes, at one point jumping up and shooting both of her knees at my face. As soon as she landed, she suddenly gasped for air, more sweat dripping off of her. "D-dammit… my mind just… can't keep up," She wheezed, "It's like… trying to control four extra limbs at the same time!"

"Your pace was a bit low, but that was your best try so far. You lasted for a minute and thirty seconds." She grinned at that and gave a thumbs up, obviously encouraged by the improvement. "You said that your mind couldn't keep up with your movements?" Wolfram asked her as he sat down. She nodded, both of us curious at what he had to say. "Well it sounds like you have an issue regarding your mental reaction-times. It's kind of funny considering that you're a speed-type," he teased, earning an embarrassed huff from her.

"Seriously though, have you considered doing basic reaction or multi-tasking drills?" Her eyes went slightly wide as she took it in. "I figured," He nodded, "You're more reliant on natural instincts rather than active thinking, but just that alone won't help you advance. Trying to do both types of drills should help your ability to think at a higher speed and with greater flexibility, which would certainly help you out when it comes to better coordinating your movements and actions with your thoughts and intentions."

"That's… actually a pretty decent idea," She nodded, "Thanks." He gave her a thumbs up and she returned it with a confident grin, getting back to her feet and wiping the sweat from her face and opting to practice Flow with her own movements. "Glad I was able to give some reliable advice," He sighed as he went back to his own practice, while I just raised a brow.

"You sure about that? She's very heavily based on instinct, so who's to say she's going to follow through?" I asked with a small smirk.

"Screw you too Terra!" Asuka shouted at me, though the lack of actual anger made us chuckle. After steadying himself, Wolfram thought for a moment before he came to a conclusion. "I believe that she'll go through with it. They might fight differently, but Asuka and Riot are both similar in that they're capable of picking up on skills that will allow them to rapidly improve. Put that in tandem with Asuka's natural talent and new willingness to learn, I have no doubt that she'll do her best." My eyes flicked over to Asuka, and a giant grin split my face as soon as I realized that she heard him. Her cheeks and ears had turned a bright red, her movements a bit jittery and her face twitching as she fought as hard as she could to fight off a smile.

"Keep up the good work class!" Professor Arc called out, we've only got ten minutes left, so push yourself for another five!" As if in response to that, Riot's pace started to spike up, strikes tearing through the air as his focus sharpened, eyes narrowing as if he was able to see someone physically standing in front of him. His foot lashed out with an audible ***_WHOOM_***, a gust of air-pressure actually forcing us back a step. As he reset, his head suddenly snapped to the side like his was punched in the face hard, stumbling back and glaring hard. He side-stepped, but his body crumpled as if someone drove a sledgehammer into his ribs. "Umm… the hell?" I muttered.

"It's a more advanced kind of shadow-sparring," Asuka said as she sat next to us, a surprising look of sadness in her eyes. "It's not just him throwing out attacks, he's trying to think up of any and every opening that he makes, and he punishes himself for it." He had put his guard up, but something seemed to blast right through and knock him back. "Who the hell is he imagining then, to give him an ass-kicking like that?" I chuckled.

"His father."

I stopped laughing. I noticed the anger, no, the seething _hatred_ in Riot's eyes. For a split second, I saw it: the rough image of the Headmaster, and where Riot's attacks were being aimed. Temple, ears, neck, floating-ribs, femur. It didn't seem obvious to anyone just glancing at him, but it was pretty clear what was going on: each attack was meant to inflict agonizing pain and cripple his opponent. He wasn't like an enraged Asuka either, his power was always aided by strict technique and high precision. It wasn't the first time I had seem him so focused in a combat-based setting, but to see that kind of raw hate in his eyes made me wonder how someone our age, how someone as _nice_ as he was could look so _hurt_.

"Time's up!" Arc called, much to everyone else's relief. The smouldering look in Riot's eyes vanished and he breathed out gently, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. "Good job you all! Don't worry if you weren't able to get much progress with your Flow, but make sure that you practice it. As for the last five minutes of our class, you've got two options." This caught everyone's attention. "You can either rest it out, cool down and get changed or…" He grinned cheekily before he flared his aura, much to all of our surprises, "Test your Flow and power against me. If you can hurt me through my aura, then I'll immediately give you a passing grade for this semester." Nearly everyone got fired up, excited murmurs passing through the hall and several students stepping up to the challenge. Asuka, despite how tired she was, was the first one to dash in front of him, a massive grin on her face as she clenched her fist. "You've only got one shot, so use it wisely!" Arc said as he grinned back, his aura tight around his body.

"All I _need_ is one shot!" She laughed, her fist trembling as her Semblance activated with an explosion of steam. She closed her eyes, and I knew that she was focusing intently on her aura before her body burst into action. "HAAH!" She turned into a blur and shot straight into the Professor with a sharp ***_BANG_***, the floor shaking before everything came to a stop. She was suspended mid-air, her fist planted solidly on his chest. He hadn't even budged an inch, wearing a big, shit-eating grin on his face. "Not bad! Great speed and velocity, but your Flow was lagging behind."

"Dammit," She sighed as she landed, shaking out her probably sore fist. The display of explosive speed and power that would normally render everyone else airborne and probably outside doing next to nothing on Professor Arc put a lot of people off. '_Points for everyone who still wants to try though,_' I thought with a small laugh as I walked up next. Thinking for a moment, I got into a basic stance and started to bounce o my toes, making myself as light as possible. '_I don't have the same raw power as Asuka or Riot… but precision is where I shine! I'm no slacker at close-quarters combat, but I think I've got a new trick up my sleeve. Time to see if this works._' I twisted my body and shot my own fist forward, though I made sure that the knuckle of my middle-finger was pointing out, acting like a spear. '_Spiral your aura, and direct it to the point of impact!_' I twisted the muscles on my wrist, forearm, bicep, triceps, and back, perfectly synching up the spiralling motion with the flow of my aura as it flooded into my knuckle. ***TWACK!*** It was a strange sound, and a rush of hot and dull pain ran up my arm. Nothing was broken but the feedback was almost like trying to break a steel wall with a wet noodle. "Ooh, that's a pretty neat technique you've got!" He applauded, still unmoved, "It's a bit uncontrolled still, but it's got a load of potential. I don't really suggest using it against someone during combat-class though, something like that could punch right through aura if you aren't careful." I nodded, happy with my performance.

"What the heck was _that_!?" Riot asked in a childish, extremely excited tone, practically bouncing on the spot, "I felt your aura twist and pinpoint right at your knuckle when you hit him. All that extra force was like a freaking drill: you could punch a hole through almost any defence if you practice with that move!" I grinned as he mimicked to move, quickly picking up on how to use his aura in the same manner that I did, though where mine was like a needle, his would be like an exploding tornado. '_That'll be… interesting,_' I thought.

"Might at well give it a try," A voice sighed. Ringo casually but rather quickly walked up to Professor Arc, a relaxed look on his face. The four of us were quiet, and for good reason. Ringo was pleasant enough, but just walking around the dude put us all on edge. Not necessarily in the bad way, his vibe was just… naturally dangerous. Distracted in thought, I jumped when I heard a shockingly similar ***_TWACK_*** that my own punch had, though mixed with the same sound of a solid sounding and otherwise normal punch. "Very interesting use of your Semblance! I'm impressed by your creativeness, but you shouldn't just rely on previous people's works." He sighed and nodded, though it was pretty obvious that he was pleased with himself. He walked off and saw my surprised look on my face, a small smile on his own as he idly thumbed his watch. '_Hmm_,' I wondered.

"My turn!" Riot shouted, literally bounding over to the professor. "Hahaha! Nice spirit kid, but can you back it up?" It was like someone let a grenade loose in the room, the air immediately exploding as sheer wind-pressure pushed everyone back. I had to shield my eyes, but aside from the shouts of surprise, I could see what was happening. Riot's aura was surrounding his body like a giant white bonfire, halfway to the ceiling and roaring with power, just about managing to keep it contained. Professor Arc though… his own pure white aura was like a giant wall, insurmountable and unbreakable. The feeling only intensified as it suddenly contracted right around his body Riot's eyes turned sharp, aura violently spiralling around his arm. '_He's going to use his own version of my new technique… let's see it then!_'

"**_HAAAH!_**" He roared as his fist tore through the air and exploded on contact. Instead of a single, concentrated point of impact, Riot's aura literally exploding from his fist in a giant spiralling burst. Arc was actually pushed back, his feet skidding across the floor as he was pushed from the center of the room right up to the wall before the spiralling-effect faded away. A hole was torn through his shirt, revealing his untouched skin underneath. "You're packing a lot of power in that punch Riot!" The professor congratulated with a smile, "But I can tell that it's an incomplete skill. Honestly, I'm not surprised that you've been able to pick up on a lot of aura-manipulation techniques early with all of your previous practice. Enhancement, Enveloping, Flow and now Expulsion on the fly." Riot was practically beaming with joy, utterly happy that someone was able to see how much work he had put in. "However, you still weren't able to get through to damage me. I think we know that if you actually went all out, then that might be a different story." The claim made almost everyone's jaws drop. Jaune Arc, the Immovable, said that he could've been hurt by Riot? It was nearly unthinkable for everyone else.

Nearly. Everyone had reviewed the Initiation footage at this point, and even if we were on the lower end of the spectrum, it painted a target on our backs. I didn't mind really. Riot bit his lip, looking a bit hesitant before he said, "… I mean… I didn't really want to wreck another building on accident sir." The silence permeated through the class before Arc burst into laughter, ruffling Riot's hair with a smile. "I guess that's fair enough kid! Still though…" His smile turned knowing, though his face was kind. "Everyone has something to overcome. It's your job as the next generation of Hunters and Huntresses to make peace with every part of yourself, no matter how much you might dislike it. Once you manage that, I don't have a single doubt in my mind that you'll all become far stronger." Riot still looked hesitant, but he ultimately nodded in agreement. "Well, class dismissed. Make sure you all keep your practice up and have a great day everyone!"

"Damn you Riot, I swear that I'll catch up to you!" Asuka raged playfully, punching him in the shoulder. He laughed sheepishly and he rubbed his shoulder as we walked out of the door, right back to his usual shy self. "I don't really doubt that you'll catch up Asuka."

"Eeeh!? So you _actually_ think I'm behind then!"

"N-no, I mean-!"

"Don't hide it you cocky bastard!" She growled, putting him in a headlock and grinding her knuckles into his hair. Funny thing was, she had to hop up to do it, all while he kept walking like nothing was happening. I snickered and Wolfram did his best to compose himself, his posture dignified as he struggled not to laugh. "Really though," I sighed as I calmed down, "That was our last class for the day, huh?"

"You're right," Wolfram said, slightly surprised. "Strange, the day passed by surprisingly fast. I'm quite shocked that I don't really have anything planned."

"Not everyone wakes up with a plan for every day, nerd," Asuka teased, "Let's just wing it and do whatever the hell we want! Hell, we can do nothing if we wanted to, since we managed to complete all of our essays."

"A-actually, I need help with something," Riot spoke up. This made our eyebrows shoot up: Riot was always one to work hard on his own, but for him to need help? This was new. "Wolfram, you're pretty good at weapon-making, right?"

"I'd like to think so, yes," He said before an excited spark flared in his eyes. "Are you finally thinking of making a weapon? Because I'd be utterly glad to help you."

"Well… yeah," Riot answered after a moment. Immediately, Wolfram whipped a notebook out of nowhere. "Good, because I've already written own about thirty different weapons that should suit you. Gauntlets, Greaves, arm-blades, elbow-spikes, claws…" As he was rapidly firing choice after choice off, Riot's eyes spun from the number of choices.

"N-no, nothing like that!" He said as he put a stop to Wolfram's rambling. "Don't get me wrong I'm grateful that you went out of your way to come up with weapons for me, but… I'm not looking for a brawling option." Wolfram was silent but curious, as were the rest of us. Riot breathed in and looked him dead in the eyes. "I want a greatsword." That surprised us.

"Damn, I was betting a scythe or some kind of polearm," Asuka hissed disappointedly. I didn't blame her either, it was pretty much the exact same line of thinking that I had as well. "A greatsword? But you excel at hand-to-hand! Why…" Wolfram trailed off as his eyes narrowed, Riot fidgeting under his gaze. Wolfram suddenly went about poking and prodding Riot, much to the poor guy's surprise as he yelped and twitched. "Dense bone-structure, extremely high muscle-fibre count, yet malleable…" He grabbed his wrists and kneaded them for a moment. "…Rock solid joints capable of withstanding sudden impact, and flexible for other unorthodox movements. Quads and calves, full of fast-twitch fibres great for explosive and sudden movements." He stopped and looked up at Riot, glaring, but not in an angry way. He was fascinated. "… You've been training to use a greatsword for a long time, haven't you?"

"...Yeah. Yeah I have," He answered honestly, "I know that as strong as I've become, that strength can be turned against my body if I overwork it. I need a weapon that'll be powerful enough to crack through the toughest defence without having to stress my body so much."

"This is going to be so much fun!" I had never seen Wolfram so excited, but it was a pleasant new side to him. It was pretty funny seeing the surprise on both Asuka and Riot's face. "Your build is literally perfect for a weapon like this! There's such a wide array to choose from, and all of it falls under my specialty!"

"Uh, specialty?" Asuka asked.

"Swords! I like weapons in general, but swords and bladed things are what I'm best at. Enough of that though I'm already -!"

"I've actually already decided what I wanted. Sort of. I just wanted your advice on it…" He trailed off as he stared at something behind me and I immediately turned, feeling a vague sense of hostility. "Ooh great, it's team hype!" I rolled my eyes and sighed. Diego Brando was… overbearing at times. It wasn't that he necessarily went out of his way to find someone to pick on. If you were in his way and he didn't like you though? That was a different story. Best part was, he didn't like _anyone_. "I'm nearly impressed that you've managed to last this long, constantly skirting at the bottom of the rankings."

"Brando, what do you want?" Wolfram said, a little bit tired. "If you're just here to antagonize us then I strongly suggest you leave. Nobody is in any mood to start a fight on such a pleasant day." Diego snorted and rolled his eyes at him.

"Oh please, don't make it sound like I went out of my way to run into you. You aren't even _worth_ that kind of attention. You're all just a bunch of C-grade characters riding off of the coattails of your rich parents." A shiver ran down my back and couldn't help but glance at Riot. His face was blank, too blank for someone normally at emotive as he should've been, but his knuckles were bone-white in his clenched fist. "Oh screw off Diego," Asuka snapped, "You know damn well that we'll catch up and kick your team's collective asses! Riot's already kicked Crystal's ass during the initiation too y'know?"

"Please, I don't give a shit about the rest of my team! If I wanted to, I could take all of you down by myself!" His arrogance faded a bit as a faint look of respect gave way. "Okay, well… _maybe_ Valentine could do the same. But I could still beat him within an inch of his life if I wanted to, the patriotic bastard." He refocused his attention back on us, his scowl forming back on his face. "Still, stay the hell out of my way. If I see any of you anywhere near my ranking, I'll be sure to beat you so badly that you'll quit Beacon altogether!" His face twisted into a taunting sneer as he walked past us, his hands in his pockets. "It's not like I'm holding my breath for a miracle like that to happen though. With how often you're pushed down, it's almost like the headmaster is _trying_ to get you kicked out."

"**Don't say that.**" Riot was suddenly beside Diego, his hand gripping his shoulder tightly, aura pooling into his joint and muscles. He gasped and buckled under the grip as Riot's eyes… '_Good Gods…_' The whites of his eyes were pitch black as his face looked absolutely savage, his teeth bared like an animal. Like a predator. "**He can _try_, but I'm not going anywhere. An arrogant bastard like you could never stand in my way when I get to the top.**" Diego looked frozen for a moment before he suddenly snarled back. His body grew slightly bigger, more muscular as his human hands turned into… scaly claws? He gripped Riot's fist and with a lot of effort pried him off, baring his own sharpened teeth. "You don't get to touch me!" He twisted and a ***_BANG_*** echoed throughout the walkway, Riot skidding backwards a couple of feet. There was a visible dent in the middle of Riot's shirt, right where his solar-plexus was, but he didn't look like he had noticed at all. "You've got some damn nerve-!" Diego roared before a hand suddenly grabbed his arm.

"That's quite enough Diego," Ringo said calmly, patting his teammate on the shoulder. "Wouldn't be good for any of us to start a fight out in the open and attract any… undue or unwanted attention." My eyes flicked up to the Tower where the Headmaster resided, and my blood ran colder as I realized that he was right. If he caught wind of this… Diego huffed and calmed down, his body reverting back to normal. "Tch! You better watch yourself Rose. I'll beat your ass when sparring comes around, mark my words!" He shook Ringo off as he stormed away from us, muttering angrily as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Haah, that was a bit close," Ringo sighed, a small grin on his face.

"No freaking kidding. Thanks for the save dude," Asuka said, both of them shaking hands. His gaze shifted from Asuka to Riot, a sudden wave of disappointment overcoming his features. "Oh. That's a shame. The look in your eyes before was wonderful, but it seems that it's faded away now." All of us turned around to Riot, and I was caught off guard. Before, he looked ready to maim and outright kill Diego, but now, I'd never seen Riot so terrified. He was staring at his hands, his entire body trembling in raw fear. "…R-Riot, you okay?" Asuka started, walking up to him.

"Don't touch me!" He practically shrieked, leaping away from her. He was hyperventilating, panic setting into his body and tears pooling in his eyes. "Please get away from me! I-I didn't mean to- I…!"

"Woah-woah-woah, calm down Riot! It's alright, things just got a little heated, that's all!" Asuka coaxed, her voice uncharacteristically soft as she slowly walked towards him. "I-I promised! I promised that I wouldn't harm others with it, and I just broke that promise!"

"What the hell is going on?" I whispered to Wolfram, the sight of Riot so distraught really unnerving me. "I believe that using his Semblance, whatever the situation, is something of a traumatic experience."

"Riot, it's just your semblance acting up, please calm down," Asuka said softly, closer to him now. "Nobody really got hurt, and everything is alright." He still looked like he was on the verge of having a heart-attack, so my body just moved on its own. '_Time to do something pretty stupid!_' I dashed right at Riot in a full sprint, catching both him and Asuka off guard as I literally tackled him to the ground, tightly wrapping my arms around him (Pretty difficult since he was built like a marble statue). Everyone stood silent and shocked as he fell onto his back, Riot staring open-mouthed at me as I casually looked up at him.

"W-what the hell are you doing!?" He choked out, blushing a bit as I rested my chin on his chest with a grin. "Dude, calm down. You're alright."

"Please get away from me," He started to panic again, "I-I don't want to hurt anyone-!"

"Hurt me then," I cut him off bluntly.

"…huh?"

"Since you're so dangerous, hurt me then," I taunted with a grin, holding back a laugh at how dumbfounded he looked. "See? You're a big softie, and we all know you wouldn't go out of your way to hurt someone." That seemed to calm him down, a gentle breath of tension leaving him and everyone else in our vicinity. I rolled off of him, relishing the embarrassed blush on his face as I helped him up, dusting his clothes off. "You're alright Riot." For a brief second, everything was alright. Riot was the shy, kind hearted guy with the sheepish smile. It didn't last.

***_BANG_***

Riot was sent crashing into a fountain, stone and water splashing in the blink of an eye. Stand right in front of me, his body radiating with the unwavering intent to kill was Headmaster Oscar, his eyes blazing with fury and his scowl so twisted, some teeth were bared. "I knew it would only be a matter of time before you revealed your true nature," He growled, briskly walking past us and towards the downed Riot.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Asuka roared, leaping right at Oscar with her fist cocked back. He didn't even spare us a glance as he waved a hand in our general direction, snapping, "Stay out of this." It was like a giant hand slapped the four of us away like flies, the air knocked out of us as we landed a safe distance away. Even then, it felt like someone had encased our bodies in stone: just trying to stand was like lifting a building. "B-bastard!" Wolfram coughed out, struggling to his feet with the rest of us.

"It was foolish of me to wait for the opportunity for you to lose control. However, now that I see a simple argument is enough cause for that to awaken, I know that I should've **slaughtered** you like an animal the moment you were born." Though I could only see Riot's feet, I could tell that he wasn't moving. He was completely vulnerable to someone who was about to kill him. "I won't let you destroy the peace that I worked so hard to create. I won't let her come back."

"G… get up…!" I called out weakly.

"This is where you die, you abomination!" Oscar shouted, raising a glowing hand over his prone form.

"GET UP RIOT!" I screamed.

**(Cue Music: Doom Eternal OST, Slayer Gates, Extended)**

A flash of light… no, something _opposite_ the concept of light itself was _torn_ from Riot's body, blasting Oscar back a few paces in a ten-foot high pillar of pitch-black rimmed with a bloody red hue. A hand gripped the broken edge of the fountain and he rose. Veins bulged across his entire body, his explosive muscles straining against his torn shirt. The whites of his eyes were once again pitch black, his face twisted into an animalistic snarl. Where his hair was once black with red tips, it seemed to have grown slightly, all of it glowing a bloody red right down to the root. "Oh God's no…" Asuka breathed, her eyes wide and full of worry.

"Now what… might _that_ be?" Ringo asked, a tinge of excitement in his voice.

"That's Riot's semblance," She said simply as Riot crouched down, hunched over and tightly wound up like a bomb ready to explode. Oscar's eyes were wide, his jaw hanging open for a moment before he scowled, regaining his posture and ready to fight. "What kind of Semblance _is_ that?" Wolfram asked, all of our eyes glued to the war that was about to take place.

"…**Hatred**."

**To be continued…**

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**Another setup for another all-out war! This something I've been building up to for a long time now, so get ready for the next chapter. Round one, Riot vs. Oscar! Hope you all enjoyed and see you next time!**


	17. Break your Limits

**Finally, we get to one of my most anticipated fights in the story that I have been waiting to write for the longest time! Let's get right into it then.**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 12 **

**Keep moving forward**

* * *

**Riot**

"Why… why did you hurt them?!" I cried out, my power wildly lashing out at everything around me, my control over my hatred wavering with each passing second. "They have nothing to do with this!" Father… no, Headmaster Oscar just kissed his teeth and pointed an open palm in their direction. "Anyone who would seek to justify your existence is a liability. It pains me to do this because of the vast potential that they all hold, but I will not allow anyone to cultivate the threat that you are." His palm formed a sphere of crackling green aura in his hands: that was more than enough to completely vaporize someone on the spot. Wolfram's eyes went wide as he quickly put up a Hardlight barrier, but it wouldn't be enough. Oscar was aiming to kill. Fuck all the promises I made. Fuck all my limits that I put in place**. Fuck it all**.

"**Consecutive Demon.**" Right roundhouse, left roundhouse, spinning hook-kick. Left-temple, right-temple, back of the head. There was a deafening ***_CRACK_*** as every kick impacted his head in an instant, his eyes wide as his body froze up. "**Rising Demon.**" Lower your weight, explode upward with your toes, twist and drive your fist straight up. His head was flung upward with a ***BANG***, blood spurting from his mouth as he was lifted a good foot into the air. I jumped and spun, putting the full weight of my body behind a spinning sidekick, another ***BANG*** echoing as he was blasted backwards, crashing right through the wall of a building and into a classroom full of people. I didn't care. There was only one thing to do. **Rip and Tear, until it is done**. The mental chains that I had put in place dissolved, I threw my head back and screamed. I felt my body grow slightly taller, muscles stretching and bulging, veins threatening to tear out of my flesh. My hate choked me, _consumed_ me, and for the first time in a long time, I truly _smiled_. I leapt into the classroom, amidst the dozen of panicking and screaming students, my mouth nearly _foaming_ as I laid eyes on him, standing up with a look of shock and horror on his face. I grabbed the closest thing nearest to me, ripping an entire lecture-desk from the floor and dashing at him, screaming as I swung straight down, wood shattering and splintering on his face.

Blinded and with a mouthful of wood, I snarled and grabbed his throat, lifting him straight up and pivoting to smash his head straight into the floor. I wasn't done yet, fuck, I hadn't even started. I shrieked with utter laughter and glee as I grabbed him by the ankle, pivoting again as I tossed him through another wall, dashing to catch up to him as we ended up in the cafeteria. More screaming, more panic, more fear. He was on his feet this time, eyes wide on his bloodied face, even as his aura rapidly tried to repair the damage done. His foot shot straight forward and I cackled as I slipped right by it, lashing out with a low sidekick to his knee. Another ***CRACK***. I giggled as he stumbled back, his face twisted in pain. He shouted as he threw what by all means was a textbook right-cross. All I had to do was snap my forehead straight down. My forehead was gashed, blood spraying across my face, but I grinned as I felt his fingers pop. "**Fucking useless!**" I roared as I grabbed his wrist and yanked him close, shooting my knee right into his chest. His left ribs snapped like twigs. He tried to elbow me in the head, but I just slammed my shoulder into face, blood streaming from his nose. Grabbing the hem of his pants, I roared as I tossed him through the window. Leaping on the edge, I cackled as I saw his bloody form splayed out on the ground, his hands under him as he struggled to get up. Students who were out and about were staring in shock at their oh-so powerful Headmaster turned into a bloody mess.

"I-I was right! You _are_ nothing but a monster!" He shouted, managing to stand.

"**Oh… _I'm_ the monster now?**" I snarled. I hopped down and walked up to him, my fist clenching so hard that I was sure that I felt my knuckles pop. "**You abandoned me.**" I stood right in front of him, and he threw a left hook at my head. I ducked and smashed my fist into his right side. "**You abandoned mom.**" Gasping for air, he tried to kick at my head, but I caught it and stabbed into his calf with a finger, his strained face trying to hold down a scream. "**Stopped me from entering any combat school**!" An uppercut slammed into my liver, but I ignored it as I elbowed him across the jaw. "**Cursed my very existence!**" I dropped my weight and cocked my fist back, tears of rage welling in my eyes. "**WHY!?**" He barely managed to get his guard up as I threw a right hook as hard as I could at his face, a shockwave blasting him several meters backwards and throwing back a bunch of students. "**I've done EVERYTHING and ANYTHING to show you I'm worthy!**" I screamed, freely letting tears fall. "**I passed _every_ exam! I got as strong as I could without _anyone's_ help! I bled, sweat and cried to let you know _that I could do it_!**" I looked down at my hands wreathed in black and red aura, watching as tears fell into my palms.

"**But why do you want me dead? Why is it that every time you look at me, you despise me? Because of _this_!?**" I flared my aura, more bitter hatred swelling in my chest. "**I don't even know what this _is_! I restricted myself from using this unless I had to save someone, or win, and did my best to get stronger without relying on this. And despite never telling me what it is, what it _does_, you just want me and my only friends dead!?**" I focused on him again, muscles bunching up as my rage exploded. "**_YOU'RE_ THE FUCKING MONSTER!**"

"**AND** **_YOU_ ARE _NOTHING_ BUT A THREAT TO THE PEACE THAT I HAVE WORKED TOWARDS FOR YEARS!**" Emerald aura burst from his body, his wounds gone as his power spiked. "**I'm going to _end_ you before you become too wild to control, you animal. Anyone who stands in my way will meet the same fate!**"

**"…Then come and try to end me.**" I blinked and felt my head snapped to the side, a molten pain blooming in my cheek. I grit my teeth, planted my feet and swung back as hard as I could. My knuckles connected with his face cleanly, more blood spurting from his mouth before he threw a wild kick straight at my chin. Too fast. I felt more pain race up my jaw, my vision going hazy for a split second. '_Don't bitch about it, don't give ground._' I snarled again, erasing the idea of losing to him and burying my feet up to my ankles in the floor. '_Grit your fucking teeth fight like hell!_' Left hook to the liver, dip down, left smash, shift weight, overhand right. All cleanly landed. His nose was bleeding now. He was still alive. "**Don't get cocky you little brat!**" A looping uppercut split my lip. Left hook to my temple shook my brain. Low roundhouse to the leg fractured something. I didn't care. I grabbed his leg, shit my fist into his hip. Something cracked and he bellowed in pain. I brought my elbow down on his leg. Another crack, another scream. His eyes glinted wildly. He grabbed my face with his hand, yanking me forward and smashing his head into my mouth, my lip split wider now. His elbow slashed right under my eyebrow. Another gash, more blood spurt into the air. Something was off.

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I roared as I lifted him straight up, bending over backwards and almost folding my body as I suplexed his head right into the floor. Stone, brick and dirt was sent flying through the air. The sudden stiffness in his body told me of a concussion. I let him go and got to my feet, blasting my heel into his exposed chest. More debris thrown around, more screaming. He roared as he pulled himself out of the ground, his aura billowing up even higher before he rushed at me again, his eyes wilder. I screamed right back in defiance, meeting his charge as our fists lashed out in a storm of blows. My knuckles clashed against his in a rapid-fire beat, the thunderous ***BANG-BANG-BANG*** unleashing more waves of air-pressure that lifted tiles and blew everyone who was too close backwards. The off feeling that I felt before? It was stronger now. He was faster, more powerful than I was… but it wasn't by much. He had technique, but it was basic. Even that had been thrown to the wind in favour of trying hit me with power alone. "**I knew it!**" I cackled, deflecting a left cross and upper-cutting him on the jaw. Still he fired back, but his punches got sloppier. Wider. Unfocused. "**You can't really fight for shit, because you haven't trained!**" My elbow met his knuckles and they bent in a way they weren't supposed to. "**You wanted me dead, and you didn't think that I'd get stronger?**" I grabbed his collar and mashed my head into his face again, the feeling of blood on my hair driving me wild. "**Arrogant piece of shit!**" My knuckles met his again, and I rapidly put the full force of my muscular and aura rotation into my strike, blasting his arm backwards like wet paper. "**You've had nothing but power handed to you. You never pushed your body to its limit. You never trained until you were going to pass out. The only reasons why you're so strong…!**" I twisted and threw a spinning sidekick, a few of his floating ribs crunching under my heel. "**Is your _bullshit_ Semblance!**" Right hook, shattered jaw. "**The Four Maidens!**" Low roundhouse, fractured ankle. "**And the _hundreds_ of lives worth of power in you!**" I roared, firing off one more rotating straight-right, his chest almost caving in as his body was flung backwards, over the heads of a dozen students and smashing into a stone statue of himself. I smirked as the stone crumbled and collapsed on top of him, the head of the statue cracking in half on his spine. "**YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME!**" I cried out into the sky, letting my power soar and scream into the air. And then, the air changed.

**Cue Music: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Eyes of Heaven OST, Dio's Theme**

More pressure than Jaune Arc, more destructive power than Yang Xiao Long, speed almost as great as mom. Surrounded in a green sphere of aura and rising from the rubble, wounds completely gone, a halo of fire, ice, life and wind, his hair pale white and his eyes glowing green. "**You pushed your luck too far, brat. Now you pay the price.**" I didn't have time to think, or to react. He was in front of me, his hand grabbing my head before he slammed me straight down. It was like my entire body was frozen and burnt at the same time, and I screamed. He tossed me into the crowd of students, all of them screaming and running away as I crashed through a bench and a tree. I didn't even have time to get up, he just picked up the ruined tree and clubbed the shit out of me with it. Wood and splinters flew through the air as I tried to pull my aura as tightly around myself as possible, eyes shut tight. It suddenly stopped, and I cracked my eyes open to see what happened, only to let out a choked cry as a fist crashed into my chest. All of them broke. My bones, I mean. "**Training? Pushing your limits? That means _nothing_ against power!**" Again he threw me, this time straight up into the air. And again, I couldn't react, something cracking against my jaw. My mind went blank and my body went limp. _'…Oh fuck, I dropped out of my form, didn't I?_'

He caught me with a barrage of punches while I was completely defenceless, bones cracking and blood flying from the gashes and cuts all over my body. I couldn't even scream as he ripped into me, one final blow to my face sending me tearing through the ground for at least a full ten seconds. Looking down at my hands, I saw that the black aura around me had faded back to my normal pale white, even that flickering weakly as I struggled to maintain it. Everything hurt, almost all of my aura having been used up to patch the more serious wounds up. He was walking towards me, and it wasn't hard to feel hatred again. '_Fuck… I need more power!_' I thought as I struggled to move my legs. '_If I can power up again, I stand a chance!_' I breathed heavily as I felt it rise up again, power flooding my muscles, and I had to choke back a scream before I quickly snuffed it out. '_Shit, I can't even use it!_' He was walking up to me, a sword made out of stone, ice and fire in his hand. '_Did…_' Something crumbled in my chest, and I felt my body go limp. '_Did I not train hard enough? Or… am I just that weak?' _

**Music End**

**_'Idiot._**'

I twitched violently. I didn't think that. Or say that. '_What the fuck was-?_'

'**_I said that you're an idiot._**'

_'…Ah. I'm dead,_' I concluded, '_So I'm hallucinating a random voice._' The voice, a female, sighed in annoyance. '_Holy shit there's a voice in my head,_' I realized.

'**_Yes boy, I am._**' She was amused now, before her voice turned serious. '**_But as I was saying before, you're a fool, even if it's justified. He is going to kill you soon, so I'd suggest that you stall for time._**' I thought that it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, and it wasn't like my anger had faded. "Couldn't beat one boy without that stupid fucking power of yours huh?" I spat at his feet, "It took everything you had to beat one kid."

"I will not hesitate to eliminate a threat like you," He scowled, raising his sword. His body froze.

"… getting cold feet asshole?" I joked before I saw that he was literally struggling, a vein popping on his forehead. "Come on, you wanna fucking kill me, then follow through!"

"Stop… holding me… back!" He strained, grinding his teeth. His white hair faded back to messy brown, his eyes amber and his sword dissipating as he clutched his head. "I don't _care_ that he's your son!" He bellowed, his aura acting weird around his body, warping and writhing. '_Your son?_' I thought, a blast of confusion making me freeze up. He convulsed as he fell to his knees in front of me, his voice coming out warped as he screamed, "**YOU WON'T KILL HIM!**" His body pulsed, and he was limp for a moment. _'**Just as I thought,**'_ the voice sneered, '**_The different attitude, the drive to kill you, the arrogance… that can only belong to one man_**_._' When he looked up, something in my heart clenched. His eyes were soft, loving, the tired and strained smile still full of pride. Pride in… _me_? "D…" My throat locked up at that look of love and pride in his eyes. I didn't want to believe it. "Dad?"

"H… hey son," He said in a strained voice. "… this isn't how I wanted to talk to you… but… stuff happens, clearly." He laughed. It was still strained, but it was a far cry from the sneering and disgust that was aimed at me. "I… wish we had more time, but…" His aura pulsed, and a sneer flashed across face before he forced it down. "I don't have much of that."

"Wh-how? What…?" I sputtered, trying to force my tears down. He just held out his shaking hand, and I felt the agonising pain just… fade away, slowly. The healing stopped, and I was still hurt and sore in places, but I was _far_ from out of it. "Damnit… he's already locked down my Semblance," He spat, anger flaring on his face before he looked at me. "I can't do much more for you right now… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't here to see you grow into the young man you are now." He was sad, but the pride in his eyes, all of it directed at me didn't help me try to hide my tears. "But know this. I'm so _proud_ of you, and I'm glad that you're my son." I cried openly, completely unused to this feeling. His eyes hardened, "Don't let your guard down, and don't let him make you lose your focus. Until I can gain better control, you'd better take care of my son Salem!"

'_Salem?_'

'**_Don't worry Oscar, I will,_**' The voice said. _Salem_.

_'…Holy crap, Salem?_' I felt her nod and grin. Was that even _possible_? '**_Dodge boy!_**' My senses screamed with danger at that moment and I leapt over a wave of fire just in time, completely carbonizing the ground. Landing, I put my guard up and checked my body. Still sore, still hurt in my ribs, but a lot of my aura was restored. "That clueless CHILD!" The man in front of me roared, his hair flashing from white to brown and his power fluctuating wildly. "Even if you hold my power back, I can still kill your son!"

'_Your son… Oscar…_' I thought that I knew rage and hatred before, but this feeling? "…You're Ozpin, aren't you?" He froze for a moment before he scowled, staring me down. "I suppose that's what I get for shouting out loud," He sighed, annoyed.

"**You**…" The word was at the back of my head, I just couldn't reach it. "**You took my father away from me.**" My eyes stung, my chest burned, something in my body screamed. "**It's all because of you…!**" I didn't care about the pain I was in as the black aura began to overtake me one more time. That's the word. _Fury_. "**YOU WERE THE ONE WHO RUINED MY LIFE!**"

'**_Be calm boy,_**' She said, stopping me right before I exploded. '**_Throwing your rage around will get you nowhere._**'

"**H-he took my father's body and broke mom's heart!**" I snarled out.

'**_I am aware, but you cannot overcome him with power alone. Pushing your body in the way you are now will cause you to destroy yourself._**' When I didn't respond, a sudden wave of sharp anger that wasn't mine flooded me. '**_Though you weren't the intended recipient of this power, I will not allow you to use it like a glorified temper-tantrum. Control yourself this instant!_**' It was like the crack of a whip, and immediately my anger faded in surprise and a bit of fear. '**_Good. Your father may be holding a good deal of Ozpin's power back right now, but he'll still be aiming to kill you. Stay calm, stay sharp and focus your anger. Call upon my power only in small, quick bursts. Understood?_**'

_'…Okay._'

'**_Good luck boy,_**' she hummed, just as Osc… no, Ozpin threw himself at me. '_Fuck he's still fast!_' I jumped straight up, just barely avoiding his flying punch that ripped through the floor. '_I'm still better trained!_' Tucking tight and twisting, I kicked off the air as hard as I could and rocketed straight down, shooting my left into his back and slamming him into a crater. *_CRACK_*. I had to bite down hard on my lip. Something in my arm fractured again, pain blooming in the area. Ozpin spun, kicking up dust as he grabbed my neck and put his other palm on my chest. I barely managed to flood my chest with aura as an explosion rocked my senses, my ears ringing as I was sent tumbling backwards, crashing into a light-pole. "**Mother_fucker_…**" I snarled, meeting his flying punch with another of my own. Another fracture. '_Don't stop moving!_' Moving in, I gnashed my teeth and tried to reinforce what was broken, ready for the next point-blank exchange. He ducked under my right hook and I put my guard up as his own wild haymaker crashed into me. A hint of frost tickled my left foot and I jumped up, shooting a knee into his chin just as a wave of ice froze the ground beneath me. I almost cried out as I felt my ribs crack from a wild punch. Even unfocused, he was still dangerous.

The distraction cost me and he beat into me with another terrifying barrage of punches, sometimes a hand encased in stone or ice or flame. One caught me across the temple and I felt my legs buckle before his left hand seemed to multiply in the hundreds. My body was riddled with strikes, and whatever was healed before was definitely broken now. '_I… I don't think I can win this,_' I laughed to myself, my mind delirious from the pain as a punch blasted into my nose. I could faintly hear Salem trying to encourage me, but I was blacking out. I tried to throw a roundhouse kick, but it was too slow. A compact explosion seared my skin through my thinning aura, the force enough to send me stumbling back. Blood was dripping from my mouth. I felt lightheaded. '_Huh. Don't think I've been this hurt before._' Ozpin's face was really angry, his fist cocked back. All that power loaded up in his fist would be enough to blow through my aura and pop my head like a fleshy balloon. _'…Ozpin's face…_' It was like the world was moving in slow motion. '_No…_' My heart beat hard. Something cracked. It wasn't a bone, or some kind of damage. '_Ozpin is wearing my dad's face._' My senses faded away, and my eyes felt this… pressure. 'I…' My fist clenched on its own.

'**_That's it boy. Let go of hate, rage, fury._**'

'_I have to…_' His fist was moving forward.

'**There's only the fight.**'

'_I'll keep moving forward._'

My body moved on its own, his knuckles scraping my cheek as my arm just went straight. ***BANG***. His head snapped backwards a gash right above his eye splitting open. His mouth was open in shock, but I didn't take the time to register it. He snarled and lashed out with his left hook, and I just moved, front-flipping clean over it and chopping straight down with an axe-kick right to his collarbone. He buckled and the ground under us shattered. '_Keep moving._' Twisting, I threw a sidekick with my left foot, barely clipping his cheek before I followed up, pumping my right leg as fast as it could go. ***BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG*** All of them blocked with his arms, but they still landed. I kicked off the air, keeping a tight spin on the spot and whipped out a right roundhouse. His guard broke. "Don't get cocky because of a second wind brat!" His right straight was fast and powerful. I breathed as I landed and let it brush past my face, twisting my chin away just in time. Another left hook and I leaned back. Chopping left-roundhouse, step off to the side.

My knuckles buried themselves into his right side, Ozpin coughing up blood. I went to attack again, but he created a tight barrier of… aura? No, _magic_. My fists scraped and banged against the barrier. My bones were flaring with agony, torn muscles bleeding out inside me. I didn't care. I just kept punching. With his guard up along with the barrier, he was untouched, waiting for me to stop. '_Go faster._' I shifted my feet and put more weight behind every strike, full rotation and maximum impact combined with increasing speed. And I kept getting faster. And faster. A crack formed. Two more followed. Then three. His eyes were wide before he dropped the barrier, roaring as he channelled as much of his power as he could into his fists. '**_Yes boy, this is how you do it! Let your body and soul focus on the fight!_**' I slipped, weaved and deflected as many of his wild punches as my tired body could manage. More than a few landed, something breaking or tearing in the process, but still I moved forward. '**Let everything else fade away, push your growth further, and it is there…**'

I missed a kick to his stomach as he stepped back, his arm cocked back with power crackling off of every inch of his form. "**I'm ending this,**" He snarled. This would be too fast for me to dodge, nor did I have enough physical endurance left to let the fight last any longer. So, I clenched my fist and shifted my weight, and punched. My flow lined up perfectly, aura spiralling through my arm like a storm. '_Condense and expel on the point of impact._' Keeping it tight, I put all my legs, my weight, my muscles and my aura into one strike. '**_It is there that you pry the door open and shatter your limits._**'

"**SIN DEVIL TRIGGER**."

The explosion rocked the entire Academy to its very core. The ground beneath our feet vaporised, two unstoppable forces flinging entire trees and crowds of students away like plastic bags. I felt something within me break at the moment of impact, and it was like power incarnate was infused into my very bones. I looked into his fear-filled eyes, never backing down even as our auras grinded against each other's. I gave one last heave, pushing my fist forward and letting every last drop of power I had roar from my hand. A spiralling wave of black and white engulfed him and he was sent screaming into the air, a ***BOOM*** echoing as he crashed right into his tower. Just like that, the power I felt completely vanished. The hazy focus that I had on the fight disappeared, and I was suddenly very aware of how _fucked up_ my body was. "Ooooh _wow_ that really hurts," I gasped, my throat scratchy and burning. I could feel all the muscle pulls, tears and bruising. Fractured femurs, all my ribs broken (I swear that breaking ribs is more common than it should be) my right arm was completely screwed up. It was the colour of a black bruise from my fingertips right up to my shoulder, broken in more than one place. My jaw had trouble closing, and blood was still flowing freely from more than a couple wounds. "All in… a day's work," I laughed to myself. "But… what was that…?" I wondered, looking at my ruined arm. The flow of power that come from within me, not the pitch-black rage that I was used to. '**_You appear to have discovered your semblance._**' I wanted to jump out of my skin, but I was too hurt to try. '_Oh, right. Salem… hi?_'

'**_Hello child,_**' She chuckled, amused. **_'It's quite nice to finally talk to you._**'

"Um… thank you?"

'**_You sound quite conflicted,_**' She noted.

"I mean, yeah. I've got the biggest supervillain of my parents' time living in my head now. What gives?"

'**_Well, this is the first time that you've accessed the well of my power to such an extent. In doing so, I am now able to fully communicate with you. I can't exactly say that I expected this to happen, but it is pleasant nonetheless._**' She seemed to sense my sudden nervousness before she burst into laughter. '**_No boy, I am not capable of taking over your body in the same way Ozpin has done to your father. He is the amalgamation of several souls, while I am simply a… vestige of what I once was. Besides, I do not want to take over you. My time for such acts have passed me… and it does not sit well with me trying to take over someone unwillingly._' **The sour tone in her voice surprised me.

"You _really_ don't like my dad, do you?"

'**_Your father? Oh no, he's a sweetheart. Probably the best parts of Ozpin I've ever seen. Ozpin himself though… that's a different story._**'

"I'll drop the subject," I chuckled nervously. "So… what's my semblance?"

'**_Wise choice,_**' She snorted, '**_You appear to be able to Remove the natural limits placed upon your body and unleash your hidden potential. A simple but immensely powerful one, more so considering your unique circumstances._**'

"So… your power isn't a curse… it's just power…?" I breathed, looking at my palms in astonishment.

'**_Hey, who's power are you calling a curse?_**' She asked sharply, scaring the hell out of me. She laughed after a moment, and I relaxed a bit. '**_You're too adorable boy. Also, it appears that your friends are on the way._**' Hearing the shouts, I turned and grinned a bit as I saw Asuka, Terra and Wolfram all sprinting at me. "My Gods Riot, you look like shit!" Asuka shrieked.

"I'm not sure what isn't broken at this point," Terra joked, trying to stabilize my limbs with Eternal Youth. "Don't worry, I have a solution," Wolfram said as he blinked and his eyes turned into glyphs. "**Restore**." I gasped as hundreds of bones seemed to pop back into place, wounds just vanishing and my nerves tingling like crazy. It was such a weird feeling, almost all that pain just… gone. There were still some minor gashes, cuts and bruises here and there, but I felt less like I was going to die and more like I was just really sore. My aura hadn't suddenly returned either, so it would take a bit for that to recover. Wolfram had his hands on his knees, breathing heavily as the glyphs turned back into normal eyes. "… that's over half my aura gone in one go. Good lord Riot, I really think that you could've died had we not reached you."

***THUD***

"Oh don't worry, I will make _sure _that he dies this time!" I shot to my feet and put my guard up, shock almost shutting my mind down. '**_Persistent bastard,_**' Salem scoffed, her voice on edge. Ozpin stood in front of us, having just touched down. He wasn't looking too good, shirt torn off, his hand bruised and his face bloody, though he was rapidly healing. "Guy's back off, I'll-!"

"Oh shut the hell up!" Asuka shouted getting into her own combat stance. "You know damn well we aren't leaving you alone."

"We are so screwed," Terra sighed, though she was ready as well.

"I also believe that we have a very low chance of survival," Wolfram laughed, "But I could never abandon a friend."

"…You guys…" I felt my throat lock up, but I couldn't help but grin. "You're all a bunch of idiots, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL!" Asuka roared, crouching and ready to leap forward, just as Ozpin snarled and began to move. "**Dragonfist: _Explosion_!**" A burning golden fist smashed into Ozpins cheek out of nowhere, driving him straight into the ground in a burst of flame, all of us stopping dead. When the smoke cleared, we saw his eyes rolled up into his head. He was completely out. Auntie Yang on the other was livid, red eyes burning like stars as she stared at his prone body for a moment before she calmly breathed out and calmed down.

"Well, uh…" She chuckled after a moment, "Think it's safe to say that there won't be classes on for tomorrow."

**To Be continued **

* * *

**And so that concludes round 1. What, did you think that this would be how a father-son rivalry ends? Nah, there's gonna be more. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and peace out.**

**Riot Rose **

**Semblance: ? **

**-The ability to break the limit places upon his body in order to access his hidden potential. Not much is known past this. **

**Power: A**

**Speed: B+ **

**Range: E **

**Durability: B+**

**Precision: B**

**Potential: ?**


	18. Salem witch talks

**Back again with a slightly late upload, sorry guys. Hope you all still enjoy it though, as exposition based as it is.**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter 13 **

**A talk with the Witch**

* * *

**Wolfram**

"That's Ozpin? The old Headmaster of Beacon Academy?" I wondered aloud. It was nothing sort of surreal: someone who by all means was the most powerful man alive was literally chained up in what looked like a metallic coffin with a glass pane, a needle in his arm keeping him sedated. Barely. It was the same type of sedative used on horses, yet he was subtly shifting and moving, his face twitching into brief expressions of what looked like anger. "Yeah. All of us had suspected something after Riot was born," Professor Arc sighed, idly rubbing his beard, "The change in attitude, his aggression towards Grimm, heightening Search and Destroy missions against them. Hell, the only reason why he's focusing on the Chaos Insurgency now is because of Blake's recent run-in with Hayden and is cyber-Grimm experiment."

"I was able to take it out without too big of an issue though," Terra pointed out, a small grin of pride on her face.

"Maybe so, but consider the idea of fighting two more. Now imagine a veritable army of different Grimm with vast, cybernetic enhancements. Heck, the one you fought from what Sun told me still managed to whack you around for a good portion of your fight." The idea made the blood drain from my face. A single B-Class Grimm with enhancements were able to hold their own with the top Hunters of our era. If they managed to get their hands on an A-Class, or Gods help us an S-Class… "I mean… that's a pretty good point," Terra sighed, disappointed at the reality of the situation.

"Still, I never thought that of everything that could've happened, Ozpin _himself_ is back," Professor Yang growled, "The bastard already lied to us about Salem and hid the truth about her from his closest friends. But something doesn't sit right with me…" We all looked to Riot, who was just standing in front of the coffin, silently crying with a hand on the glass. "Why does he want Riot dead so badly? I know that his Semblance is pretty violent, but otherwise…" She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, looking at Riot sadly. "Damn. This kid can't catch a break."

"We'll talk to him," Asuka said strongly, glancing at me. I smiled and nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder in confirmation. "We will certainly be an emotional pillar for him to lean on. I swear it as his Team leader and his friend." Professor Yang smiled softly and pat me on the head. I bit amusing considering that I was a fair bit taller than her. "As a Professor and as his Aunt… thank you. My sis' should be here within the next week or so to try and take control of this mess. I'll let you guys go and give you some time to rest up, considering that there aren't any classes for today."

"Yeah, anything happens and we'll be sure to update you all," Professor Arc said with his usual thumbs up. Terra gently tapped Riot on the shoulder, getting his attention. He wiped his eyes, staring at the twitching body of his possessed father before walking away with his head down. Our walk back to the dorm was silent, but somewhat pleasant in a way. It was astounding to see the destruction caused by Riot's battle. Lecture-Room 2 had been ripped apart with two holes in their walls. The lunch-hall had all of the seats destroyed, wood and splintered metal thrown around everywhere (though the kitchen and food had remained untouched, surprisingly). The front-courtyard of the Academy had suffered the worst of the damage. Oscar's statue reduced to rubble, stone tiles that made up the walkway turned to dust, several trees that framed the sides were uprooted, and most obviously, right where the original statue depicting one of the first Hunters once stood was now just a giant crater of destruction, almost a meter deep and fifty feet wide. The students that we did run into had quite the variety of reactions. Some were absolutely terrified, turning around and almost sprinting away. Some of them were in awe, openly staring at Riot. It wasn't necessarily hard to believe that, considering the _entire_ population of Beacon saw and felt the fight between him and the Headmaster. Among that awe were also hard stares, a look of challenge and excitement in the eyes of some. If our fight with the Extinction-Dragon had some still doubting Riot's raw power, this his clash with Ozpin erased that doubt entirely, regardless of whether he was being held back or not.

Regardless, Riot wasn't in any emotional shape to receive attention like this. Ever since yesterday, he had been lost in thought time and time again, and I wasn't able to get a read of him at all. When we reached our room, he just walked over to his bed and plopped himself down on it, his forearm on his head. "… Riot?" Asuka asked tentatively, sitting right next to him.

"I'm not alright," He answered, his outright honesty surprising me. "I just found out that my dad isn't really my dad and his body's been hijacked by some asshole with some serious issues." We all felt the air ripple as his rage seemed to ooze from his body before he calmed down. "…but… I'm not all that bad either." Tears welled in his eyes, but his emotion were confused and mixed. Sadness, frustration, anger… joy, pride, hope. "For a second, I saw him you know? My actual father. He's trapped in there because of Ozpin, but…" His fist clenched, and a small grin came to him. "…he said he was _proud_. I'll prove him right, beat Ozpin, and bring him back." We were silent for a moment before Asuka broke out into a wide grin. "Aiming pretty high there Riot. I could tell that Ozpin was being held back a lot, but you think that you can still beat him?" He nodded, his expression pensive for a moment. He was lost in thought again, debating on whether to tell us something.

"You know that you can open up to us," I prompted softly, leaning on the bedframe. His eyes darted around nervously before he let out a shaky breath. "…what I'm about to tell you guys does not leave this room. I…" A look of surprise suddenly graced his features. The next part threw me off entirely. "…wait, you can do that?" He wasn't talking to any of us. "Oh… oh okay, wow, that actually works out pretty well."

"…R-Riot, who are you talking to?" Asuka asked, a bit freaked out.

"Oh, just give me a sec," He replied casually as he sat up and closed his eyes. Immediately, black smog began to rise from his entire body, pooling around his feet and slowly drifting to the centre of the room. Asuka promptly freaked out, shrieking and leaping to the nearest wall. Both Terra and I were on guard, auras at the ready in case Riot wasn't able to control what we thought was his Semblance. It wasn't his Semblance. The smog began to take shape, turning into something… humanoid. As the seconds passed in silence, more and more details began to form, the figure turning distinctly feminine, skin and flowing hair a deathly pale pallor, yet with surprisingly human eyes, irises a clear crystal blue.

"**This is… a strange feeling,**" She chuckled, moving her limbs slowly. She turned to us, a soft smile on her face as she gave a light bow. "**A pleasure to finally meet you all.**" She raised a brow suddenly and turned around. "**Riot, you can open your eyes now, I can maintain this form by myself.**"

"O-oh, sorry," He said sheepishly, grinning a bit and turning to us. "Guys, the rage-mode thing where my aura goes all black and stuff? Yeah, that's not my semblance. I'd like you all to meet Salem." We were silent for the next few seconds. My mind was racing at the implications, how Oscar…, no, how Ozpin constantly acted like Riot was a threat. The mass execution of Grimm and anything Grimm related. It's because technically, Riot _was_ a threat. This wasn't some cheap trick or illusion: this was the very same woman that sought to destroy the very foundations of our world before we were born and came very damn close. Yet that's the thing.

Riot was no more a threat than any of us in this room. All of us had enough power to bring down buildings and raze small towns if we so chose. Yet here Riot was, carrying around what appeared to be the same kind of malevolent power that once belonged to her, but instead of going drunk on it, he sought to take up the path of a Hunter. Not to mention, from all the pictures and descriptions of Salem from mother, something was distinctly different with the way she carried herself and the aura she gave of. Being around her felt… peaceful. "… huh, she's pretty hot," Terra said out of nowhere. Asuka was the first to burst into laughter, all traces of fear pretty much gone as we all slowly descended into humour. Even Salem herself chuckled, amused and entirely relaxed at the situation.

"**Of all the things that I have been called, hot is certainly a new one,**" She said, "**But thank you, daughter of Belladonna. Your mother's ability to manipulate shadow was a fascinating one that caused me quite the trouble.**"

"Damn… so you really fought our parents," Asuka wondered, walking up to her and eyeing her up. "It's weird though, for all the talk of you being the world's greatest evil and stuff, I'm not getting any kind of bad vibe from you. Don't think you're hiding anything either, so…"

"**I have no intention of hiding anything from you,**" She said honestly, "**Such a foolish tactic was in part why Ozpin had failed to defeat me time and time again. As such I, or rather this vestige of mine, will tell you everything that I know. I am the last remaining piece of Salem, gifted to help the continuation of Remnant's survival.**"

"Okay… so why are you in Riot?" I asked.

"**When your parents managed to defeat me, I had originally gifted the last of my raw strength to Ruby Rose. It did not manifest within her, most likely due to the strength of her Silver Eyes, but when Riot was conceived, it took him as the new host. Just because you are born with it though does not mean that your body is used to it yet,**" She pointed out to Riot, "**Your training had barely taken you to the starting-line in terms of handling it. Now, you will have to strengthen your body to better adapt and handle my power, and the negative effects.**"

"Woah, hold on, effects? As in plural? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Asuka started, her tone a little angry.

"**You've already seen how it affects his physical state. His body could very well tear itself apart trying to utilize even one-_tenth_ of it as he is now. Not to mention, it is more than just raw power. It is the very last remnant of my soul and the experiences that has come with it: that includes the raw negativity that I was bathed in. Yesterday, he nearly went insane with fury. Imagine what would happen if he had decided to be entirely taken over? Even _I_ cannot foresee the consequences.**" The thought made us all shudder, especially Riot himself. Though, he looked a bit confused and angry at something.

"Salem," He said, "I get that my dad or Ozpin or whatever not telling me… but if my mom knew, why didn't she let me know? Why didn't she just… tell the truth?" Salem sighed, drifting over to him and lightly patting his head. "**Do not judge your mother harshly for her inaction. While I don't see the value in keeping secrets from one close to you, I ultimately understand. What she did was out of love and worry for you and your future. Love is a powerful tool that can be both good and bad in its applications, and I should know. Imagine it like this: your mother tells you that you have the power of, and not to swell my own head, the greatest evil this world has seen. How would you, someone who wants to be a Hunter, react to something like this?**" He was silent for a moment before he sighed and nodded, begrudgingly understanding the situation. Something was nagging at the front of my mind.

"Salem," I said after a moment, "…I'm sorry to say, but I still do not fully trust you." She smiled, surprisingly cheeky.

"**I'm surprised that you trust me at all,**" She chuckled, "**But please, state your mind.**"

"Why did you pass your… vestige… to Ruby Rose in the first place?"

"**I**…" Her image suddenly flickered and wavered like static on a television, both her face and Riot's scrunching up in pain, their hands going to their respective heads as they both groaned in pain. "**I… passed myself on… because…!**" She tried to get out, her smoking form collapsing as Riot clutched his head, a drop of blood running from his nostril. Terra cried out in shock and both her and Asuka went to check on him. "**Damn it all!**" She shouted, her form sharply coming back into focus and all traces of pain vanishing from Riot, the poor guy left breathing shallowly as he recovered. "…What the hell was that?" He asked after a moment before he trailed off. She looked furious, her clenched fists trembling as black veins seemed to pop on her forehead. She breathed in deeply a handful of times, managing to calm down. **"… I apologize. I did not think that they would intentionally find a way to curse me from telling you of their existence, and in turn harm the bearer of my vestige**."

"_They_?" I probed. She opened her mouth before another short wave of pain hit both of them. "Okay, think it would be safe to say that she can't talk about it," Terra said with a bit of worry in her voice, soothing Riot with her aura. I felt a ball of guilt form in my stomach: my lack of trust had just further injured my teammate. "I…!"

"**Save it boy, you could not have known**," Salem sighed. "**I… wished to warn you of a… potentially world-destroying threat. The fact that I cannot tell of what _they_ are only proves to me that _they_ still remain out there, waiting. However… I believe that you all cannot be stopped from learning about it from others. Hopefully, you will not have to worry about _them_ anytime soon, and I believe that you four have the potential to overcome the looming threat with a united Remnant behind you.**"

"… so we just have to get strong enough and be ready for whatever comes?" Riot asked after a moment.

"**That's a very simplified way to put it, but… yes.**" Riot, all better now, sat up and grinned.

"We're hunters. It's our job to be ready for whatever comes," He said, almost vibrating with excitement. Salem's eyebrows raised up, surprised at his enthusiasm before looking to the rest of us. Asuka was grinning widely, cracking her knuckles. Terra was lazily confident in her own right. I admittedly was looking forward to this: a chance to grow stronger, prove ourselves and surpass the legacy of our parents? The prospect was daunting, but undoubtedly something that I, and for that matter _we_, had already been looking to achieve. "**Hmph. Your unity and eagerness is impressive,**" Salem congratulated before she turned stern, "**Yet you all have a very long way to go before reach the required strength. Stay focused, learn whatever you can, and continue to push yourself. On the other hand though…" **The silence was deafening as tensions rose before a sheepish look suddenly wormed itself onto her face. **"… I am not well acquainted with the world. Would you all mind if you caught me up to speed? I'm not quite used to knowing so little about this world**."

"The world's greatest villain is asking us for a story?" Asuka asked, unable to hide her laughter. The irony behind the situation was certainly amusing: all four of us sat around and told stories and events of what happened after her defeat at the hands of our parents while she in turn sat elegantly next to Riot. We told her of the reformation of the Hunter Academies, the arrival of new and powerful creatures of myth that could rival the Grimm. The radical Confederate clashes within the heart of Vacuo over the topics of freedom and slavery over Faunus. The appearance of new and powerful magic artefacts that were nothing short of priceless for their untold properties. And of course, the rise of the Chaos insurgency, who sought total global anarchy with whatever means necessary, from Relics, human experiments, armies, weapons, spies, and most recently their attempt to enhance the Grimm. That got a rise out of Salem. "**Those fools are able to tamper with Grimm? I must say, technology has much improved, but the idiocy and arrogance of man has grown tenfold in my absence.**"

"I'm not really sure how far Hayden's got with Cyber-Grimm," Terra added, "The Demons from what I know are normally war stronger and faster than the one I took care of, not to mention way bigger. Maybe the experiments weaken them in the process?"

"Most likely," I concluded, "But Grimm in general always evolve and grow stronger. Who knows how far they can get with enough time to adapt to their implants? Besides, you said that this one was able to use actual combat-techniques while constantly improving in the middle of a fight. _No_ other Grimm as far as I know are capable of that."

"**Hmm… a challenge for another time then,**" Salem agreed. "**By the way, who is the leader of this Chaos Insurgency?**"

"Nobody knows what he really looks like or what his real name is," Asuka spoke up, her tone a bit lower and slightly shaken, "Only that he's destroyed every trace of his past, and that he's completely unbeatable with his Stand-Type Semblance. The name he goes by is Diavolo."

"**You've encountered him before,**" Salem stated more than asked.

"Y-yeah… he almost killed me a few months back before I came to Beacon." She unbuttoned the bottom of her dress-shirt to reveal the six-inch long jagged scar that ran right above her bellybutton, cutting diagonally through her (frankly amazing) abdominals. "Sly bastard got the jump on me by changing his appearance and nearly gutted me like a pig. His fucking ability is broken as all hell too."

"You got to see his Ability!? Holy shit Asuka, why didn't you tell me! I've been looking through all the footage I could find of him being forced into fights, and I could never figure it out," Riot said excitedly, "I'm betting it's some kind of advanced teleportation with how he seems he just appear and disappear while also rearranging everyone's positions-"

"He can fucking skip time." That made my eyebrows shoot up. Time manipulation itself was a rare enough power, though it was powerful in its own right. My mother's glyphs had the ability to speed up her own time or slow down an opponent, and an old legend of the past told stories of a psychopathic tyrant who could even stop time itself. Skipping time though… the thought of how that worked entirely confused me. For Asuka to have faced such a thing head on and survive was astonishing. "Worst thing is, I'm pretty sure that isn't the only Ability that he has too. He didn't just skip time, when I was fighting him of grandma's dreadnought, the hangar that I was in changed. I mean physically turned into another room entirely. Everything turned red, there were giant marble pillars and a fucking _throne_ at the middle of it all."

"**An Evolution to his ability then,**" Salem concluded, "**It's not unheard of, and there are several different ways of achieving it. But for it to leap to the point to creating a Reality Marble…**"

"A what?" I asked.

**"Reality Marble. It's generally a term for imposing your soul onto the world in order to physically change it into a reflection of who you are. It can be done through the use of magic and aura from what I know, but for him to improve his Semblance to such a point, then drastic measures must have been taken.**"

"That's…" I paused and looked at my own hands. '_Change the world… a reflection of your soul…?_' Salem herself stared at me, a look on intense interest and curiosity in her eyes before she seemed to dismiss the idea. "**Well, I say he will be a good challenge for you to grow in due time.**"

"…Wait, so you're basically telling use to fight the whole Chaos Insurgency _and_ Diavolo?" Riot asked, "That's… a pretty steep order."

"**In _due_ _time_ boy,**" She sighed, lightly whacking him on the back of his head (to no effect, considering she was made of smoke). "**Going against them now will certainly be of no help, but they will certainly be the first major challenge that you will face.**"

"Eh, we'll be ready for it no sweat," Terra said, her arms behind her head as she casually rested on Riot's lap, tapping his chest with her knuckles. "Especially now that we've got this powered-up bad-boy and Salem here to help us get stronger." While her confidence was certainly charming, Riot himself was practically catatonic, his face beet red as Terra got comfortable, shifting her head on his thigh. Salem looked on with a raised eyebrow and a cheeky grin, just as amused as the rest of us. "**Either way, rest for the time being. Afterwards, you had best start to push your limits to their utmost and beyond. I…**" She yawned, something that I didn't think was possible, "**Require some rest. It's been a pleasure meeting you all, and I will certainly be visiting you at a later date**."

"Thanks Salem," Riot said before his face morphed into confusion. "God that sounds so _weird_ to say out loud." She laughed and pat his head one more time, a soft and weirdly motherly look on her face. "**I appreciate the gratitude. Take care of this fool, Belladonna.**"

"Already on it," She chuckled back as Salem dissolved back into smoke, seeping back into Riot's aura. We were silent for the next couple of seconds, the reality of the situation sinking in on us. "We really just had a conversation with Salem, didn't we?" Asuka sighed, flopping onto her bed. "This is… goddamnit, I don't even know what to think."

"I mean, she was pretty cool about the entire thing, and you said that neither of you could pick up on any lies," Terra pointed out, "Plus, I get the vibe that she really wants to help all of us, especially Riot."

"I suppose you're correct," I agreed, though the sheer absurdity of the situation wasn't lost upon me. "She'll be a valuable source of information to help us grow. It feels strange, but we may have much to learn from her."

"Still… we can't let this get out, no matter what," Riot said seriously. You guys might be okay with it because of me, but imagine if the other students found out?" Indeed, the idea was enough to send a shiver running down my spine. They may have had mixed feelings about him now, but to learn that he had the Queen of Grimm inside of him… they'd try to kill him on the spot. "Maybe so," I said, looking to him, "But you'll have to master using her power without losing control. The more adept you are at it, the less people can equate you to fighting like a Grimm." He smiled a bit at that, the confidence that rarely showed itself shining through now.

"I already told you, I _need_ to get stronger. If that means learning how to master this power first, then I'll put my _everything_ into it."

"Now that's the confidence I like to see," Terra said with a grin, poking his cheek while still resting on his lap. The reminder was more than enough to turn him back into the beet-red stuttering mess, while Asuka and I chuckled. With all the pieces in place and a goal in mind, it felt like we were headed for a bright future. That's what I hoped, at least.

**Oscar **

The entire thing felt very real: the pain coursing through my body, the metallic floor under me, the blood running down my face, and the clockwork gears floating around in the sky. But despite it all, I knew I couldn't give in; I refused to give in. No matter how many limbs I lost in this place, no matter how many times I was killed here, regardless of the chains wrapped around me, I'd keep fighting for control. "I don't understand… why do you not listen to logic and reason!?" It still didn't change the fact that everything felt so real here, and more pain boiled within me as the chains pierced my skin, writhing into my flesh and wrapping around my very bones. They tightened and my bones snapped like twigs. I screamed in pain, rage, utter defiance. The chains dissolved, my bones instantly reforming and my wounds disappearing. "You've already been through the Second Great War! You've seen the death and destruction caused by her own hands!" I breathed in and out, replenishing my stamina in the blink of an eye. "So why!? How do you not see that your-!?"

"Ozpin, _please_ shut up," I sighed, standing tall and cracking my neck. "I've been hearing the same thing from you for decades now. 'Your son is a threat!' and 'He shouldn't be allowed to live!' Gods, you sound almost like Ironwood did." My thought gave form to my empty hand, now holding a familiar cane that hummed with power. "You know, every time I hear you say that…" I glared right at his image floating in the sky, his body wreathed in power. "It makes me hate you more and more." I stepped over one of my countless corpses, my body now brimming with power as I gained just an inch more control over this landscape. "How **dare** you?" I shot forward, my body twisting like a drill as I closed the distance in an instant. I slammed my cane into his temple, his skull fracturing like an egg. "You took my **life** away!" He healed instantly, and his hand tore through my chest like wet paper, blood streaming out of my back into the sky. "You broke my wife's **heart**!" I clenched my fist and rammed it through his stomach with the same ease, more blood drenching our corpses below. In the past twenty-four hours, over the millions of my own bodies, I had managed to trump over him twice. I didn't think that was possible. "But hear this: you may control the majority of my body. You may be able to call forth immense power, and you may hold my consciousness back..." Ignoring my pierced lungs, I drew closer and bared my teeth.

"**I will _never_ let you kill my son!**"

**To be continued...**

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**Aaand exposition is exposition. I tried to make this as interesting as possible with character interactions, but I still kinda suck at groups talking together (and just interactions in general), so for anyone who feels like this chapter is like a piece of homework, than I deeply apologize. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this as we get back into the swing of things next time!**


	19. No remorse

**Hey-hey once again guys, sorry for the later-than usual update again, just dealing with a couple essays right now. Don't worry, it shouldn't be too long before I'm completely freed up for a period of time. Still hope you all enjoy the story as it is so far, along with the new chapter!**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 13 **

**Ruthless intent**

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**Asuka**

Breathe, left-hook left-uppercut combination. Don't stay still, weave and keep applying pressure. Stay sharp, shift your weight and flow your aura with every strike. "You're not getting to me this time Arc!" Crystal shouted as she crossed her arms in a tight guard, her diamond skin able to repel most of the damage I tried to inflict. In raw physical power and durability, she had me beat, I had no doubt about that. That was fine though: I knew now that there wouldn't be people out there I could just pummel down like a punching-bag. '_Gotta get creative!_' She wasn't just putting up a thick skin of diamond, she was watching and carefully concentrating it in areas right as I was about to hit her. '_I'll have to use it, but I can't push it too far for too long. Let's do this!_'

"Fighting Gold: **ADVANCE**!" My heart felt like it suddenly popped, a jarring sensation in my chest before the entire world moved in a blur. One explosive heartbeat that would massively increase my speed for a spit second. My leg lashed out like a front-kick, and I swore that I could see her skin thicken around her abs. I twisted my stance and leg, whipping it to the side as my feint now cut through the air as a full-blown roundhouse. A sharp ***_CRACK_*** echoed through the combat hall and her head snapped to the side, disoriented shock across her face as her concentration broke and her focus crumbling. I stepped forward to finish the fight, but a wave of pain and shock flooded my body, forcing me to freeze up. '_Yup, that was a bad idea,_' I thought right before it just vanished, leaving a fair deal of soreness behind. Crystal had managed to recover from the initial concussion of my kick, but when she tried to step forward, she also stumbled and gnashed her teeth together in an attempt to stay upright.

'_I know that I was fast, but she still has her diamond-skin up around her at all times, so I shouldn't have been able to damage her that badly… maybe my kick was just that fast?_' I shrugged the thought off as I sharpened my focus. '_A thought for later. Using the Advance was a bad idea this early in the fight, but I'm still the faster out of the two of us._' Again I moved in, my strikes a bit more sluggish from the soreness, but I had a better idea of what to do. "Same thing again? Don't get cocky!"

"It ain't exactly the same thing!" I laughed back, ducking under a right hook and dropping to the floor in a deep crouch. Grinning, I channelled my aura into my legs, activating the Fire-Dust in my boots as I rapidly wheeled my legs around, my back to the floor as streaks of fire swirled around me. "Are you goddamn _breakdancing_!?" She shouted as my kicks constantly slammed into her guard from weird angles. As soon as I saw her guard loosen up in an attempt to grab my foot, I tucked my body tightly, my knees touching my face before I shot my feet straight up, blasting my aura and dust right into her stomach with a small explosion, the force enough to knock her clean into the air and out of bounds. "And that's the match!" Mom shouted, clapping and cheering from a few people in the crowd. "Damnit," Crystal sighed as I jogged over to her, holding out a hand. She took it with a wry smirk and I pulled her up. "Don't think that I'll go down as easy next time," She growled playfully, lightly punching me on the arm.

"I hope not, otherwise thing's might be boring around here for the next while," I shot back with a grin. She chuckled and dusted herself off, making her way over to her teammates. I did the same, walking back up to the seats. As soon as I reached there, I suddenly felt lightheaded, my knees wobbling as I stumbled. "Ah, easy there," Wolfram said as he steadied, his hands on my shoulders as he gently helped me sit down. "Used your Semblance?" He guessed.

"Yeah," I groaned, my body throbbing with soreness now that I wasn't focusing on not dying. "I tried to use my Semblance in one massive burst rather than a prolonged burn. Still wrecked me though." He raised a hand to use his semblance on me and I quickly stopped him. "Asuka…" He started.

"Don't. I can recover on my own, and you might get picked on for a Spar today," I decided it would be best to at least smile. "Still, it's not like I don't appreciate the offer, so thanks." He smiled back and nodded, though the sudden wave of soothing cold worked its way through my body caught me off guard. "Hey!" I protested, though the feeling of relief was something that I couldn't really complain about. He just grinned, a cheeky look in his eyes. "I didn't exactly use my Semblance on you, so it isn't like I didn't do what you asked."

"Nosy bastard," I muttered under my breath, but I turned away to hide my own grin from him. Terra wasn't one to miss it, her own eyebrows raised as she smirked at me. "Don't say a goddamned word," I growled out, though me trying to be threatening probably came across as embarrassed, mostly because I was a bit mortified. Just a bit. "Alright, we got time for one more matchup!" Mom said out loud, "Let's put it to the randomizer." The displays spun rapidly for a few seconds, the first image surprisingly displaying Terra of all people. She seemed pretty laid back about it, her tail wrapped around her waist lightly wriggling around. The second image though… "And Diego Brando!" Instantly, her vibe was flipped on its head: she wasn't leaning back and perfectly relaxed. She was already on her feet, every single muscle in her body tensed. Her eyes were slits, her jaw clenched tightly, and her aura visibly squirming around her body. "Fight well Terra!" Riot called out, a glance and a small smile being his reply as she made her way down.

"Hey… is she alright?" I asked him, "I don't think that I've seen her that made before." Riot just shrugged, unable to hide the worry on his face. "I've got no clue."

"Oh great, it's you," Diego shot at her loudly. "You're probably the weakest out of your team, so all I ask is that you don't ask this boring."

"…Okay, I _might_ have a clue," Riot whispered after a moment.

"Enough chatting," Mom barked, their aura-displays going up. "Begin!" Diego as a fighter, in a word, was ruthless. He drew what looked like a very thin rapier with a simple handgun attachment before the blade itself lengthened and separated into a bladed whip, nine feet long and still incredibly sharp. He laughed as he immediately lashed it out at her. Instead of dancing around it like normal, she just put her guard up and tanked the lashes entirely, her naginata barely moving to try and mitigate some of the damage. "What the hell is she doing?" Wolfram asked more to himself than anyone else, clearly upset. "Move Terra, snap out of your funk and dodge!" Even Diego was confused, though he didn't let up in the slightest adding sudden shots from his pistol, most of the bullets shattering on her cloak while others actually hit her where it would sting, on her stomach, hands and forehead.

"Oh come on, are you so out of depth that you can't fight back?" He sneered as he shot another bullet, this one racing by her eye and clipping the side of her head. He cackled as he twisted his wrist, the whip suddenly wrapping around her weapon and yanking it from her hands rather easily, tossing it out of the ring. He pressed his attack even harder, his whip slicing through the air even faster as he closed the distance. "This is boring, get the hell out of my ring!" He snapped, his aura channelled around his weapon as he swung straight down. That's when she retaliated, _hard_. Her hand shot out and let the whip wrap around her arm before she violently yanked it out of his hands, drawing him in and crouching down low. "**Earth Crouching Dragon.**" Her arm blurred and buried itself into his gut with a sharp *_SNAP_*, the motion almost like she fucking _shanked_ the dude. His eyes bugged out for a moment before he snarled and gladly elbowed her in the temple. She stumbled back slightly but regained her balance, her stance lower and almost hunched over in a weird way. The look on her face too… it was cold.

"Oh, you're getting serious now? What the hell's with that stupid stance though?" He sneered again at her, but with how tensed up he was and the hesitation written all over his body, I knew that he was hurt bad. Terra didn't respond, still in that crouched stance of hers and shifting around slightly. "Was that one punch all you-?"

"**Earth Crouching Dragon.**" Another sharp snap echoed, Diego stumbling back with his hand clutching his stomach… no, his solar plexus. Even _blood_ was dripping from his mouth. '_What the fuck did she just do!?_' Her stance was almost similar to an uppercut, but the way she was crouched down so low seemed weird as hell. She didn't have a weapon on her, nor was she built in a way that should've helped her damage Diego that much. He shut up after that, his eyes narrowed as he finally called upon his Semblance. Reptilian features suddenly popped up across his face, a long and muscular tail sprouting from above his pants and his mouth stretching slightly to bare sharp, pointy teeth. Terra immediately took up her crouched stance again, lower than before as her aura began to flow around her. "…Ah, you're going all out now?" He called out, no taunts in his voice this time. "You're responding to my seriousness and have decided to put it all on the line?"

"Can't kill you unless I get serious," Terra responded back for the first time.

"Ho… then… get as serious as you like!" The arena was still for a moment, tension thick like butter as everyone fell silent. They disappeared.

"**Earth Crouching Dragon.**"

"**USELESS**!"

A ***_BANG_*** sliced through the air so sharply that I had to clutch my ears from the stab of pain. They were both in the center of the ring, her knuckle perfectly hitting the tip of his elbow. "The same move twice Wukong? Get real!" She had grimaced, and I knew why: even with aura, hitting your fists on something as durable and pointed as bone was basically _asking_ your fists to break. He took advantage of her vulnerability and swung a full left hook to her face. "**Weeping Willow.**" His entire body suddenly went flying through the air before he crashed onto the very edge of the arena. He rolled to his feet smoothly, the extra balance from his new appendage helping him with that, though Terra had already closed the distance, still in that crouched stance. "Again? **USELESS**!" He roared, cleanly countering her uppercut by blocking it with his forearm and landing a right hook on her face _hard_. She rolled with the impact, back in her crouched stance.

He went on a blistering assault, firing off fast and powerful attacks with his bulkier frame to deal as much damage as possible, yet all she did was deftly shift her feet, almost gliding across the floor as she weaved and ducked from that strange stance. She ducked under another left hook, going even lower as she tensed up to strike. "Are you serious!?" He laughed, clearly enjoying himself as his leg ripped through the air towards her side. She didn't throw the same thing though. "**Air Lance.**" She sprung straight up over his head, completely upside down as her foot cracked right into his neck. His eyes rolled right up into his head for a moment, his left arm going completely limp. She glanced in our direction, and the look in her eyes made me shudder. '_She's… going in for the kill._' She did just that, landing and swiftly kicking his feet out from under him, her fingers pressed tightly together as she drew her hand back. "**Weeping Willow:** **Crucify**." Her hand shot down like a spear right at his exposed neck, and my breath hitched in horror. She'd literally punch a hole through his throat.

"Too slow!" He woke up and his tail instantly wrapped around her wrist, stopping her right before she ripped through him, a single toe of his on the floor holding him up. '_His balance and reaction-speed is insane!'_ Pushing off of his single big toe, he shot his knee straight up into her chin, her head whipping back as she stumbled backward. Diego was equally ruthless, leaping right back at her and wildly pummelling her body in areas not protected by her suit. An elbow to her chin stunned her as he drew his own aura-clad hand back, his nails like talons as he slashed straight down for her head. "**USHAAAAA**!"

"**Rupture**."

The final clash between the two attacks screeched through the air, Terra's body flung backwards and crashing into the floor, clearly out of bounds. "And the winner is Diego Brando!" Initially, people cheered and clapped for good reason. The match, as short as it was, was still damn good. People fell quiet though when Diego trembled and fell to his knees, vomiting violently all over the floor as he clutched his stomach. Terra just got up and dusted herself off, staring right at him. "B… bitch…!" He choked out before hurled chunks again. Still, she started to walk up to him, and it looked like she was about to help him up at first. When I saw the way her hand was shaped like a knife, that's when I knew: she was going to finish the job. "Gonna help him up Terra?" Mom spoke up, a bit louder than she would normally talk, "That's sweet of you." Terra flinched and all the killing intent surrounding her vanished. "Oh… yeah. I guess so." She held out an open hand, smirking a bit, and I breathed a sigh a relief. This was the Terra I knew. "You did pretty good, knocking me away in time. You're strong. Probably would've survived my Rupture too." He scowled, but begrudgingly took her hand.

"I wasn't on my A-game, so don't let your head swell. But… you're pretty good, almost killing me like that. Maybe next time I'll use the full extent of [**Scary Monsters**] on you."

"Looking forward to it… word of warning though." She gripped his hand tighter and drew closer to him. She whispered, but I could hear her words clearly. "Hurt what's precious to me, and I'll _kill_ you." He laughed at that, leaning right in and grinning viciously. "Hah, you'd _better_ follow through!" She grinned again, both of them walking their separate ways. She was back to her lazy self when she sat down with us again, hands behind her head as she leaned back. When she noticed us staring at her, the looked a bit confused. "…Something on my face?" She asked.

"…Terra, what the hell was that?" I blurted out, trying to keep my voice down.

"What was what?"

"The way you fought! Fuck Terra, you were trying to _kill_ him!" I whispered harshly, "You've never fought like that before, so why-?"

"I made it pretty clear. You are all precious to me. _Riot_ is precious to me." The blunt declaration caught us off guard, Riot himself turning a bit red. "If Diego hadn't provoked him, he wouldn't have gotten so badly hurt fighting Ozpin. I wanted to make sure that Diego got the message, that everyone got the message, and I would've done the same to Ozpin, but that's Riot's wall to overcome." It was… weird. Don't get me wrong, it was good to know that, as laid back as she seemed, she was willing to do anything for us as friends. But for her to be able to actively try to kill someone without hesitation… her laid back attitude wasn't a front. It was just all we've _seen_ from her.

"T-Terra… it's not like I don't appreciate the care," Riot spoke up softly, "But… I don't want you killing anyone over any of us." Her eyes hardened, the coldness in her eyes shocking us. "I made myself clear… but," They suddenly softened, "I'll… try not to. I guess." We all sighed in relief, though Wolfram kept an intrigued eye on her for a moment.

**The following lesson…**

I looked over my weapons and hummed for a bit. Having made them myself before I even came to Beacon, I was already guaranteed a pass in Weapon-Crafting. Still though, what could I do to Balrog that would make it even better at kicking ass? The answer was nothing, at least not right now. The boots and gauntlets perfectly fit how I fought, dust-nodes suited exactly to my special techniques. But still, it annoyed me. My fight with Wolfram had proven him right. They were just cool, flashy looking moves with decent destructive power behind them. Sure, I could use them creatively, but at the same time it was just a waste of dust. Riot had already become adept at countering the White Tiger,

Thinking back, I realized that the things I was most effective with was fire, lightning and wind, water being an exception oddly enough thanks to my _Azure Dragon_ technique. Wind helped speed up my movements, fire for damage over time, and lightning… '_Huh_.' As dangerous as lighting should be, I felt this weird pull to it. My _Kirin_ technique was one that would force my arm to spaz out, but the rush of the technique was something I loved. '_I fight based off of overwhelming speed, that's always been my go-to. Maybe I can work my weapons around that…?_' The smallest wisp of an idea formed in my mind, but it wasn't something that I could give form to _just_ yet. The sound of scraping metal cut my thoughts short, and I glanced over to the left to see Terra sharpen her blade. She'd been doing nothing but that for the past thirty minutes, and the weirdest thing was that it seemed to be working. The edge of her Naginata was gleaming, the blade itself perfect in every way without a single misshape or imbalance. All the while, she hummed in her usual happy/lazy way, not a care in the world.

'_Damn, I didn't think that she'd have that in her,_' My mind wandered back to the fight from earlier today. '_The way she moved, her techniques, all of them are made to kill. I guess that it's good that she only fights like that when something threatens us as a team, but…_' My eyes flicked over between her and Riot, who was working with Wolfram a bit further away from us and sketching out what looked like some kind of sword on a piece of paper. '_Riot is precious to her? Why did she say it like that? I'd get it if she liked him in that way, but for her to show it by nearly killing someone…_' I gnawed on my lip and idly tapped my thigh. '_Granted, who the hell am I to judge? I wanted to kill Wolfram and now I…_' My face suddenly burned as I realized what I was thinking to myself. '_Fuck. Fuck no, I did not just think that._'

"You doin' okay there Asuka?" Terra asked suddenly, my eyes shifting to hers and seeing the big, cheeky grin on her face. "You're looking a bit distracted by someone." I covered my face in my hands, mortified out of my mind; that was twice in one day. "God, I hate you so much," I groaned. She laughed lightly, patting me on the back with her Stand. "And you're in love~," she shot back, grinning even wider.

"I'm not fuckin' in love!" I barked out quietly, trying not to draw attention. "It ain't like he's got me wrapped around his finger or some shit like that."

"True," She agreed, "But you certainly wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Fuck. You." I hissed, trying my best to look tough again, but not able to hide how much my goddamn _face_ was burning up. It was stupid, thinking that I could ever like that cold-hearted, stick-up-his-ass, tall, elegant, charming… "I swear to god I'm going to strangle you," I croaked out, face-down on the desk and covering my head. Terra laughed again and went back to humming and sharpening her blade. "Besides, ain't you the one who finds Riot precious?" I tried to shoot back.

"Well, yes."

'_So blunt!_' I thought.

"I told you all, you're my friends. My _best_ friends. And Riot… I guess I see some similarities between the two of us."

"Similarities?" I parroted.

"Yup. He was lonely. Isolated from others in some way, am I right?" The cold tone to her voice made me shiver a bit, plus she was right. He never had that much interaction with other people our age until now, no thanks to his bursts of anger from time-to-time combined with the fact that he was Aunty Ruby's son. People in high-school never talked to him, never tried to be friends, going out of their way to avoid him. For Terra to see something similar in him… "Did… did you go through the same things he did? If that's the case, why?"

"I'm strong," She said, again with that blunt voice, "I do what I want because I'm strong, so long as nobody innocent gets hurt. I used to go to the Junior-Hunter Academy Oasis, made it to my final year too. They thought I didn't deserve to be there because of who my parents were. I had to deal with that shit for three years, putting up with it and getting the best grades. Still, they avoided me, taunted me, belittled me." A grin split her mouth, not lazy or joking, more savage than anything else. "I waited for the final combat exam a ten vs one fight meant to test how long you could last. They broke my arm, a couple of ribs, a leg, gashed my eye, all the fun stuff, but you know what? I sent all of them to the hospital. They know now that I'm strong, and I do what I want. They got in my way, tried to make me submit, and I _butchered_ them."

Her expression turned softer as she looked over to Riot. "That's why I'm interested in him. He's the strongest person at our age I've ever seen."

"Hey, watch your mouth," I deadpanned.

"_One_ of the strongest people," She fixed with a smirk, "… and for him to carry the burden that he does, pushing on despite _Ozpin_ of all people trying to stop him at every turn… I admire that. The same way I admire you for facing the mistakes of your actions and the trauma of your defeat, or the way Wolfram, even if he hasn't had the same kind of hardships as us, willing to push himself to prove his worth." She looked to me, genuine happiness on her face. "I see similarities in all of us, and I consider you all family. I'll do _anything_ to protect that." The genuine, intense emotion behind a voice that was normally lazy was surprising, and more than a bit touching.

"I mean… don't get me wrong, I really appreciate that," I said after a moment, "But you don't need to go around nearly killing people because of that." She raised a brow, looking confused.

"Why not?" Again, the bluntness behind her words made me shudder.

"Because… killing people isn't exactly right?" She burst into snickers, her body shaking as a very heavy feeling settled around her. She stared directly at me, her shining blue eyes dull and almost lifeless. "It isn't _right_? Oh, that's pretty funny Asuka. It wasn't _right_ of those brats to push me as far as they did for almost three years, yet they did. It wasn't _right_ of them to harass me, taunt me, belittle me, make me hold myself back for nearly _three years_, yet they did. They did it because they thought they were stronger than me. I carved them up in turn to prove that I was stronger than them." She sighed, idly thumbing her blade, a thin line of blood appearing on her thumb. "It's childish, I know. But after seeing everything that's happened around me, it's obvious, isn't it? Strength is what matters in this world. There is _nothing_ that will ever change that. If the situation calls on me to go all out, then I will do just that. If the situation calls on me to kill someone to protect another, I won't _hesitate_."

Twisted was the word that I'd use to describe her aura now. No more calm, soothing mist enveloping her, there was now a cloud of devouring smog that writhed around her body. Her reasons for her actions were by all means justified, but for her not to show any remorse… '_What the hell did they do to her?_' It was pretty clear that I wasn't the only one who noticed the change surrounding her. People started to shift uncomfortably in the room, like the air was suddenly getting heavier, even if they didn't know where it was coming from. Riot on the other hand seemed pretty clear on the situation. He glanced at us, his eyes flicking over to Terra with more than a bit of worry. The moment he looked at her, the heavy feeling surrounding her just vanished as she looked right back at him, grinning with her usual lazy face and waving at him. It was a bit funny seeing him blush and wave back, but the uneasy feeling lingered in my stomach.

I still considered her a friend, the first one I made when I came to Beacon. At the same time, or probably _because_ of that, I knew that an attitude like this would only lead her into some trouble, sooner or later down the line. '_She's right, there's a bit of her in us, that much is true,_' I thought after a moment. '_But I see a bit of me in you too! You care too much about power, and even if it isn't entirely self-centred, it's still something that'll destroy you if you keep walking down that kind of path. I won't let that shit happen to you!_'

**To be Continued...**

* * *

**And the plot thickens like... butter? Is butter technically thick? Shit, I dunno. Anyway, finally delving a bit into Terra's character as a bit more than someone who's eternally lazy, because every character needs a little actual depth instead of a single quirk that defines who they are. Coming up with Terra, in case you didn't know, was the one of the hardest parts of this story in its first drafts, but I think I managed to get something down. I think. There are pretty obvious references here and there as to what series I used to base her off of, but I digress. Either it's a hit, or a miss, and that's on me. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter with a spice of action, and peace out.**


	20. Give me freedom

**So the world is gonna die of Corona, that's fun. The quarantine actually forced my ass back to my home abroad, so I guess that there's always a silver lining. Anyway, back to it! (I do not own anything except my OCs)**

* * *

**Second Song**

**Chapter 14**

**Resolve and freedom**

* * *

**Terra**

I hummed to myself as I idly went about doing my fingertip push-ups, still making sure to breathe properly as I passed the one-hundred mark. _'I might've broke my fingers even if I landed the Crucify on Brando. I haven't fought like that in a pretty long time, but another chance like that might end a bit badly if I'm not ready._' This team, people who were willing to look past my faults and respect me for the work I put in? I refused to lose that. '_Eh, I sound like I'm suddenly becoming edgy,_' I thought with a small grin.

"That's pretty good form you've got," Riot said as he walked over to me, and I turned my grin over to him. The gym wasn't full of people today (hell, we were practically the only ones here), but it just gave me more room to look at him. Black shorts and a red sleeveless hoodie that showed off his perfectly ripped arms and calves. A bit of sweat matted his red-tinted hair to his forehead, but otherwise he didn't look tired at all. '_Shows how much he's worked if he's sweating though,_' I thought, my eyes narrowing as I looked at his arms again. '_Huh. He looks a bit… bigger? It isn't by much, but if you look closely enough…_' Considering that he stood at a solid 5'10, a good three inches taller than me, his body better revealed if he put on more mass. His statement finally clicked in my mind, and I kicked myself for my ignorance. "Ah, yeah. I kinda need good form if I don't want to break my fingers."

"Good point," He chuckled wryly, opting to sit down by me. Not that I minded at all. "Oh, by the way," I started, "Did you get a bit bigger? You aren't bulky, you just look more… toned?"

"Yup. I actually gained five pounds since I started adding weights to my training, I'm now at 157 lbs. Thought it would be pretty beneficial to put on a bit more mass while keeping my speed."

"Good plan," I agreed, rolling over onto my back and relaxing my arms behind my head. "Speaking of which, how's your weapon coming along?" I couldn't help but grin as his eyes lit up with excitement. "I'm basically done, thanks to the help Wolfram's been giving me. Taking out and _using_ it is… a bit difficult, but I'll get the hang of it soon."

"That's pretty good," I nodded, "Does have a name?"

"Yeah… but that's a secret," He replied sheepishly.

"Hoh? The shy-guy _can_ keep secrets!" I teased, grinning wider as I poked his cheek. He blushed like a schoolboy, and I couldn't help but tease him more. I rolled over to outright bump into him, still facing the ceiling and clearly able to see his red face. Going further, I stretched my body out and arched my body up, letting my t-shirt ride up to show off my frankly amazingly toned abs. Watching his eyes flick to them and back in front while his face turned into a full-blown tomato was delightful. "Oh God, please shut up," He groaned under his breath as he hid his face in his hands.

"Oh, is she saying something?" I asked, chuckling at the idea of what it might be.

"Nope. She said nothing."

"Really now? Cuz' it doesn't _look_ like she said nothing," I poked his cheek again, this time with my tail. He curled up even further with a childish whine and I outright laughed. '_Cute_,' I thought with a smile. He sighed and realized how futile it was to hide from me and uncovered his glowing face. We sat in comfortable silence for a while, my head pretty much using his (again, ripped) thigh as a pillow. Mortified as he looked, he didn't object. It was cute seeing him struggle not to smile. After a few minutes though, he spoke up. His voice though surprised me: timid, curious, conflicted. "Hey, Terra…"

"What's up?"

"…When you said you'd kill my d… God, _still_ can't get over that, kill _Ozpin_… did you mean it?"

"Well, _duh_ you big dummy," I chuckled, looking up at his surprised face with a smirk. "I might not succeed, but if you asked me to do it, alone or with your help, I'd do it." He was quiet for a moment, and I gave him time to think.

"I mean… look, it's not that I'm grateful that you'd go so far but… are you really okay with… killing someone?"

"Why not?" I chuckled, "It's not like I'd go out of my way to kill someone innocent. Ozpin hurt you, physically and emotionally, and tried to murder you. Something similar happened to me, so why not retaliate with full force?" I sighed a bit, Asuka's words coming to mind. "Look, I know the thought is… morbid. Not something that anyone would normally consider correct. But look at our world today: strength is what matters now, and the strength to kill reigns above all else." I looked up at him, his face not horrified, but deep in thought. "You know I'm right, because you've felt what it's like to be pushed to that point. You've felt that burning hate, that surge of murderous intent when that limit snaps."

"…You aren't _incorrect_," He said after a bit. He looked right at me, and the look in his eyes shocked me: raw determination shined, and its spectrum was a beautiful silver. "But you're _wrong_. It takes power to be able to kill someone, but that isn't strength. Even if it is, it isn't the kind of strength that I'm looking for. Self-control… no, self-mastery… _that_ is real strength." I was speechless for a moment. Was I mad? Absolutely not. Hell, I was impressed, pleased even. Here he was, the normally shy and soft-spoken boy showing his near-blinding resolve. Still though, it stood against what I knew, my own views and my own experiences. Resolve? Determination? None of that mattered in the face of overwhelming strength and skill. I took my head off his lap and twisted to sit in front of him, grinning as I held a land out. "You wanna bet on that?"

"Eh?"

"Put your money where your mouth is. Prove it in the ring tomorrow and maybe then I'll try it your way." He hesitated for a moment before a confident smile appeared on his face. He took my hand and shook it firmly. "Deal." What shocked me was the sensation of his hands. All his knuckles were calloused, little cuts and old flesh-wounds healed over into noticeable scars. The palm of his hand was also rough in the same way a sword-user's was. But despite all of that, I was shocked by how soft, how gentle his grip was. So firm, yet gentle. Strange. "Um…" He said after a moment, probably from how prolonged my hold was on his hand. I grinned again, softly as I suddenly leaned closer to him, his cheeks going pink again. "You're hand… it's coarse, rough, and shows how strong you are. Stronger than me, definitely. But if your grip is too caring, then you'll never beat me as you are now." In a spur-of-the-moment decision, I quickly darted in and kissed him on the cheek; I swore that steam shot out of his ears. "It's definitely part of your charm though. I like it." I promptly stood up and walked off to the girl's locker room, looking over my shoulder with a smirk and seeing the poor guy frozen in place, his entire body red and his jaw hanging open.

"See ya later Riot." When I entered the changing room, I stopped for a moment and covered my mouth, trying to stifle my laughter. '_God he's so adorable! I just hope that I'm giving him clear enough signals._' I calmed down and my laugher died out, my mind drifting to the storm that was going to erupt tomorrow. '_I wonder… how am I going to beat him tomorrow? It wouldn't be fair to him if I met his challenge and didn't go all out right from the start. This is going to get very interesting.'_

**Evening… **

Again I hummed to myself, skipping lightly through the halls on my way to my dorm. When I got there, I noticed the door was open and I heard voices. Supressing my aura, I snuck closer and took a peek. Riot and Asuka were in the middle of the room, both of them not noticing me. "Are you crazy Riot!? You already got your ass handed to you by Ozpin last week, we don't know if there's still any damage remaining! Sit your ass out of this and I'll beat some sense into Terra."

"If you do, you'll only prove her point!" He shouted back. "And don't give me that bullshit about damage. I get that she's your friend, and I get that you see there's an issue… but going about it by just trying to overpower her won't help. It won't get the message across, and you know that. Remember when you… fought Wolfram?" He tried to be careful about phrasing the topic, but she flinched, her eyes cast down in shame. "I-I'm sorry," He said quickly before she held a hand up, sighing.

"Nah… you're right." She collapsed onto the bed, her hands ruffling her hair as her lilac and blue eyes flashed a fiery orange with her frustration. "Damnit! It feels so _weird_ to back down from a fight!" She looked back at Riot (who was sitting on the floor) grudgingly. "You're probably best for the job too. My speed can't counter her absolute control over the area she's fighting in. Not to mention her fighting-style… even as strong as you are, can you beat her?"

"I don't know," He answered honestly, surprising me. "I could just try to call on my dark aura and pump it up as high as I can go, but again, proving her point, and I don't think that it would work on her. Regardless, I'm going to meet her head on with every bit of _skill_ that I've built up, and if I need to… I'll bring my sword out of I have to." She sat up, her eyes wide.

"You've finished it?"

"Yeah. I can't call on it now, but when the time comes… I think I can _finally_ unsheathe her, if only for a moment."

"**I hope you realize that a simple weapon isn't going to help you beat her, much less one that you can only use for a single instant.**" Smoke pooled in Riot's lap, the shape of a black cat with red eyes forming. "**At the risk of sounding like a villain again, it would be best if you called upon my power.**"

"No. Thanks for the support in this Salem, but I won't use raw power to beat her. I refuse to insult her like that." The Salem-cat snorted, and I swore that there was a little grin on her face. "**Goodness, I swear you young people are terrible with dealing with romantic feelings.**" I had to supress a laugh as I saw Riot blush again, hiding his face in his hands.

"Riot, you… like her?" Asuka said after a moment, a cheeky grin on her face.

"N-nope." He turned redder.

"Oh my god, you've got it _bad_ for her!" Asuka cackled, Salem humming in smug satisfaction. "Is that why you wanna fight her? Show how much you _looove_ her~?" Riot collapsed onto the floor in a mortified heap, Salem reforming on top of him and sitting down on his side. "Seriously though, I'm not judging you," She chuckled. "What about her caught your eye, hmm?"

"Being able to talk about your emotions will allow you to better understand them," Salem agreed, though I was still a bit confused how a feline face could look so cheeky. He slowly sat up, giving Salem time to hop back into his lap. "She's… I mean…" He stuttered for a moment, sighing shakily. "She's so _confident_. Everything she does is just… smooth. She's cool as all hell in the middle of a fight, win or lose. I've never seen her lose her focus at all, even if she pretends to be lazy… no, that's not quite right. She's lazy because she can afford to be. She knows that when she goes all out, she can succeed. I wish I was like that."

The honesty in his voice combined with the words made me blush, and I couldn't wipe the giddy smile off my face. "P-plus, she's… she's goddamn _gorgeous_." I smiled wider, my face tingling. "I mean… God!" He sighed, laying flat out on the floor. "Everything about her is just amazing! That pitch-black hair, her eyes like a clear day, that smile… God, her _smile_ is just… uuugh!" He groaned, covering his red face again.

"Oh damn, you've got it _bad_-bad!" Asuka chuckled, a mischievous look in her eye. "Say… what's her best part?"

"…what do you mean?" He asked slowly.

"Ass or chest dude?"

"ASUKA!" He shrieked, mortified to near death. Though, it did make me curious. I leaned a bit closer, eager to hear his answer. "**Ooh my, an interesting choice,**" Salem chuckled.

"Wh- oooh, she can read your mind and stuff!" Asuka realized, her grin widening. "Spill the beans Salem!"

"**Not my place to say~**" The witch-cat teased, "**Though it isn't as lewd as you believe it to be.**" Riot sighed shakily again, taking his hands off of his pure red face. "I-I think that… h-her…" He stuttered, lowering his voice but unable to hide what he said thanks to my hearing. "… her abs and curves are _perfect_. D-don't even get me _started_ on her legs and how perfectly they fit her a… a-a..." He clammed up as Asuka burst into laughter, though I couldn't help but grin wider. '_That's why he reacted the way he did. Good to know._' I decided that now was the time to walk in, though I took a couple of steps back before I announced my presence with louder footsteps. "Hey guys," I called out as I walked in, "Who left the door open?"

Asuka visibly paled and I snickered. "Don't get complacent now. Hey Riot," I called over with a wave and a smile. He lit up like a Christmas tree, obviously happy as she shyly waved back. "Hey Salem. Since when could you do… _that_?"

"**I'm an amorphous mass dear, it's not hard to change my shape at will. Plus, if someone were to walk in and see my true form, it wouldn't exactly be a good look now would it?**"

"Fair enough," I agreed, promptly walking over to our cupboard and taking my shirt off, leaving me in my shorts and sports-bra. I heard the faint *_pop_* of Riot's mouth falling open while I rummaged around for a shirt. It didn't take long to find one, but I hid my grin and pretended to search for a bit longer, picking it out and turning to face Riot while I slipped it on. When I was done, he quickly averted his eyes, his face red. Again. '_Poor dude's gonna pop a blood-vessel,_' I laughed to myself.

"S-so, Terra…" Asuka started, caught off guard by my actions, "You're gonna fight Riot tomorrow huh?"

"Yes, I am. I mean no disrespect, but I intend to win," I answered honestly. Surprising me, Asuka sighed a bit before she grinned. "I wanted to have a showdown with you… but I'll leave this to my brother-from-another. Don't hold back." I laughed outright at that: even if I had already heard it, it was still fun to see her confidence shine through. "I have no intention of holding back. Riot himself should know that as well."

"Yeah, I know," He said sincerely.

"Hey now," A voice called from the bathroom. Wolfram walked out in nothing but a towel around his waist, easily showing his lithe and toned figure. "I don't want either of you to go and kill each other or do anything too stupid tomorrow."

"Screw off, you ain't one to talk!" Asuka barked, her own face going horribly red as she averted her eyes. "Put some damn clothes on too!"

"That's what I was going to do Asuka," He sighed, "I just didn't get clothes out of my cupboard." Even half-naked, he was the pinnacle of poise and grace while Asuka was reduced to a quiet mess. Hell, even Riot couldn't ignore it, looking at her with a raised brow. She buried her face in her pillow, whining slightly while Riot and I laughed. It was a good moment of peace while it lasted. Even as I got into my bed and tried to get to sleep, my muscles and nerves felt… warm. Primed. The idea of flighting him, proving myself and my ideals right against someone so strong was _bliss_. Yet, the idea of him holding his power back, his proclamation to fight me with skill lingered in my mind. I stayed awake for a while, pondering how he could possibly match me. On paper, it seemed impossible to beat me without his raw power: my area control combined with my strength was enough. But the conviction, the resolve of him to do so… I looked over to his sleeping form, my mouth quirking into a little grin.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow, Riot."

**The following day… **

"And that's the match! Good fight you two!" Professor Yang called out, both of them sighing in exhaustion as they left the arena. My adrenalin started to pump, and I knew what was coming next. Riot and I glanced at each other, nodding slightly as she called out for the next two people to step up. We both made our way down to the arena, murmurs and whispers of excitement filling the air. Professor Yang visibly looked worried as well, though she hid it with a stern glare. "Hey now, you two aren't here to try and kill each other, right?"

"No ma'am, just here for a good fight," I answered honestly, "Riot has done nothing to upset me and vice-versa."

"Yeah," He agreed, "Besides, this'll be a good match-up to test my skills after last week." He rolled his shoulders and took off his hoodie, leaving him in a t-shirt with his usual light armour. "…Alright. Anything I see that concerns me, I'll stop the match. Clear?"

"Understood," He replied.

"Gotcha," I said, taking my naginata out a stabbing it into the ground. "I hope you know that I'm going serious from the start Riot." He actually grinned a bit, bouncing on his feet to loosen up. "Good," He called back, "I'll show you my **resolve**." White aura burst from his body, a faint wind kicking up as his face turned serious. I grinned, firing up my own aura to empower my body. "I'll show you my **power**," I replied, crouching slightly.

"**BEGIN**!"

**Que music: Fate/EXTRA, Last Encore OST: Scattering Petals Curtain**

The world blurred as we shot forward and I let aura flow into my arm. This fight would be decided not in attrition, but with single, telling strikes. "**Lacerate**." There was a sharp ***BANG***, and I raised a brow as I saw Riot stopping my attack with his own elbow-strike. Quick, compact, and perfectly stopping my attack. However, "Too light!" I teased, twisting and shooting my knee straight up. A quick sidestep made me miss, his sharp cross grazing my cheek. A backflip backwards gave me a good deal of space, though he crouched down slightly. I blinked and he had already covered the distance, a straight line of burning rubber behind him as he appeared in front of me with his left hand cocked back low. "**Dragon Smash!**"

"**Weeping Willow.**" I ducked under his angled uppercut-hook hybrid, twisting again and throwing out a hook-kick around his outstretched arm. The momentum was enough to slightly unbalance him with all his own force redirected, though not enough to make him fall. '_Fine by me._' I hopped up and hooked both of my legs around his neck, wrapping my arms around his wrist and twisting sharply. My goal was a dislocation, but instead of trying to smash me into the ground, he just blasted raw aura from his arm like a bomb, forcing me to let go and touch down back at the centre of the arena. '_Hmm…_' Again we clashed, a compact right-hook blasting into my guard and rattling me right down to the bone. His left leg went straight up, poised to chop down like an axe with his heel. I moved in quickly, lashing out with my fingers pressed tightly together. "**Crucify**."

"Reverse, **Mountain-Rending!**" Again he surprised me. He didn't try to barrel head on, he kept his foot up and launched off of his grounded foot, slashing through the air and almost clipping my chin had I not side-stepped away in time. I stayed close to him, my smaller body giving me a better level of manoeuvrability on the inside. Swaying away from another hook and ducking under a jab, I got in as close as I could. "**Earth Crouching Dragon.**" My fist crashed right into his hasty guard, spitting it wide open and sending him stumbling back slightly. I dashed in again, staying low as he took the bait, his foot cutting at a low angle. I grinned and leapt straight over his head with ease, tensing my toes and shooting my foot out. "**Air Lance.**" Once more, another shock.

"**Weeping Dragon.**" His hand smoothly touched my foot while another grabbed my leg, completely redirecting the flow of my attack and sending me hurtling for the floor. I tucked my body at the last second, rolling across the floor and springing to my feet. He didn't follow me. "Cheeky prick!" I laughed, genuinely impressed. "You copied my redirection-technique!" He groaned and stood up straight, stretching out his back. "Yeah… don't plan on doing that again. I didn't think you needed to be so flexible and quick on your feet for it."

"Well, my attack angle was weird, so I can understand," I agreed. "…Though, you aren't going all out with that skill of yours."

"Hey, neither are you," He shot back with a smile, "Besides, we've both just warmed up. Let's get thinks started for real this time. Resolve versus Power from here on out." I smirked and rolled my shoulders. "Fair enough…" I crouched down low, letting the smile drop off my face as Eternal Youth's smog began to roil off of me and quickly cover the arena. "**I'm gonna fly now. Think you can keep up?**" Raw aura exploded from his body in that moment, his eyes closed as he breathed out gently. Slowly, they opened up, and I had to hold back a gasp as pure excitement shot through my spine. His eyes were _shining_. "I won't just keep up," He said evenly, shifting into his stance. He wasn't using full power, but… something seemed sharper about him. "I'll **surpass** you and your ideals."

**Que music: Fate/EXTRA, Last Encore OST: Barricade**

I decided that it would be best to attack first, the plan being locking him down with Eternal Youth and aiming for his heart. The moment I thought that, he was right up in my face. My body reacted on its own, slipping by his right cross. My foot lashed out at his thigh, my toes stiffened to punch a hole right through his aura and damage muscle, but he was already moving backwards, just enough so make my heel brush past his thigh. I let my momentum carry me into a follow-up hook-kick, my heel again cutting through air as he ducked under it perfectly. Again, I was forced to simply react as his front leg shot straight out like a bullet, clipping my ribs with enough force to make me stumble. Even through that, I would never fall. Eternal Youth's mist kept me upright, and I called upon it to help me in redirecting his attacks, if only barely at times. '_It's not that he's firing away at full power either,_' I realized as I deflected another hook, my arms stinging sharply. '_His attacks are sharp, compact, and accurate. He really intends to beat me with skill alone, and if I were weaker, he very well could!_'

I spiralled aura through my arm, keeping it as compact and as tight as possible. He was already swinging a left hook, and I grit my teeth in preparation to take it. This technique I had been working on for a while had a way to go before it was perfect, but it was something I needed right now. "**Blood-curdle!**" There was a ***BANG*** and my vision went white for a moment, my body bouncing off the floor as my jaw rung. I knew that a good chunk of my aura was just ripped from me, but it worked. I felt the roots of my aura planted in his body and just as he was about to rush at me again, I raised my hand at him and _squeezed_. Riot stopped in place, his eyes wide and his body straining as blood began to drip from his nose. "S-so that's…!" He choked out, his teeth stained red. The sight of him hurt like that was disheartening, but I pressed on.

"Yup. You gave me the idea that I can basically control and move anything light enough with my aura. So I wondered, what would happen if I planted my semblance _in_ someone? Your muscles, bones, even large veins and arteries aren't something I can move yet. But your tiny capillaries, your blood, even your _nerves_ to an extent… I can manipulate." I twisted my semblance slightly in his throat and upper lungs, his eyes going bloodshot as he fell to a knee. He tried to close the distance again but I quickly lagged the nerve-response in his legs, forcing him to hold himself up with his hands on the floor. "All that strength and resolve… it doesn't amount to anything in the face of power."

"Okay you two, that's enough-!" Professor Yang started before a sudden wave of anger exploded from Riot. "**Don't you dare call it off!**" He roared, my control wavering for a moment before he looked back to me silently. That determined spark was still visibly shining in his eyes though. I sighed. "I'm sorry, but this is how far it will take you. I'm going to end this now." I grabbed him by the hair and slashed my elbow across his jaw. His aura flashed in an attempt to protect him, but I grabbed his head with both hands and smashed my knee into his face. Blood flew from his mouth as he rolled backwards. He tried to get up, but a quick yank at his nerves sent him spazzing out before a roundhouse kick to his neck slammed his head into the stone floor. Out of the mist surrounding him, hundreds of fists seemed to blur into action, blasting into him with punch after punch. He tried to dodge and block, but with the lack of any rhythm to the strikes in combination with the havoc I wrought in his body, he had no chance. Even with reserves of aura as big as his, it was steadily draining. Eighty percent, to sixty five, to forty in two whole minutes of an unending beating. Despite it all, something felt off.

He didn't curl up in a ball, he didn't concede, he continued to put his feet under him and fight back, his bloodshot eyes still sharp and focused as he flowed his aura around his body to mitigate the impact. "Riot, please forfeit," I said, getting a bit worried now. "You can't win unless you use your raw power, and by doing so you'll prove me right. I don't want to keep messing with your organs and blood-pressure." He grit his teeth and tried to dash straight at me, only to be stopped by a kick straight to the face. I decided that this was far enough, rushing in low. "**Earth Crouching Dragon.**" He wasn't able to block it, my fist crashing right into his solar-plexus and sending him flying backwards with more than enough force to send him out of the ring. "I **refuse**!" He roared, forcing his body to twist and kicking off the air hard, purposely smashing himself back into the very edge of the ring. "Riot, _please_. This has gone far enough!" This was getting unsettling now. Blood dripped steadily from his nose and mouth, bruises starting to form on the visible patches of his skin due to his ruptured capillaries… yet he _stood_. He _smiled_. "I'll… prove you wrong." He raised a hand, aura rising from his fingertips. "I promised… I'd show you my **resolve**." His aura was barely at twenty-percent, his something about it seemed so much more potent than before, my tail wrapped around my waist shaking slightly. "I'm ending this, _now_."

**Que music: Fate/EXTRA, Last Encore OST: No Second Strike**

As I rushed towards him, I felt that potent feeling spike, like there were thousands of needles just brushing my skin. Time seemed to slow down as I watched the aura from his palm bleed into a vibrant red. His eyes closed and his fingers curled around the air like he was holding something… like he was holding a hilt. My body screamed at me just as I was about to reach him and I obeyed, diving backwards as something big ripped through the air. Even if I had dodged, the following ***BOOM*** blew me back even further, a shockwave sending me tumbling away. I rolled to my feet, eyes wide as I tried to feel out his power. _Nothing_. Hell, his power was _dropping_ away, and he was too damaged to pull off any big attack like that. The floor in about five feet in front of him was turned to rubble, the worst of it being a straight line of stone having been pulverised to dust. "Damn, took too long posing," He laughed, coughing mix of blood and spit onto the floor. "I think… I can hold it for a few seconds longer though… let's do it!" He closed his eyes again, sweat dripping down his forehead as he concentrated hard. I could only stand and watch in awe as he reached for his chest with the same grabbing motion of handling a blade-hilt.

"**A heart bound in chains.**" The now-red aura formed a _literal_ hilt that he gripped into tightly, before he began to pull. Pain scraped up my spine, almost forcing me to cry out. "**A soul trapped by tyranny. Yet, regardless of prison, uncaring of fate's cruelty… I deny these bonds of pain!**" He tore _it_ out of his chest, the pain vanishing as I collapsed to a knee, covered in sweat. A mass of smog surrounded it, the effect of my semblance having been literally ripped away from his body, his wounds healing and his eyes shining. He grunted, slashing through the fog and holding _it_ high. Five feet in length was the blade, a perfect six inches across, the grip a foot and a half. The colour, from it's tip right to the end of the grip a vibrant rose-red. The hilt flared and layered itself, looking almost exactly like a rose. His eyes met mine, and at that moment I had begun to understand.

"**Hear my cry and grant me freedom: **_**EXODUS ROSE!**_"

**To be continued...**

* * *

**To abridge this, Exodus refers to the Biblical tale of the oppressed people fleeing from Egypt, and though trapped against the Red Sea, the water itself was split to grant them freedom. This was more or less the basis for designing Riot's weapon, combined with the heroic picture of Ruby Rose along with a dash of flamboyance from Fate/Extra's Saber aka Nero Claudius herself. For those of you who don't get what I just said, I don't blame you nor did I stutter when I called an Emperor of Rome a _her_. Hope you enjoyed the chapter despite the delay, (which was my laziness, not the virus) and see you next time!**


	21. Trust

**A.N; Bit late on this one, kinda struggled to get into the rhythm of the chapter but I think it turned out okay. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Second Song **

**Chapter 15**

**Trust**

* * *

**Riot**

'_**Your will is strong, but the mass concentration required to maintain Exodus will be your downfall. Only summon it right as you are about to strike and be sure to draw back your aura into your body, lest you waste it!**_' Salem warned me. I nodded, looking right at Terra. The shock on her face must've been from both Exodus and the damage inflicted onto her. '_Didn't think that an aura-construct would be able to directly counter her Stand ability. Good to know._' I filed the thought away and gripped the blade with two hands, widening my stance. "The real fight starts now, Terra!" I shouted, snapping her out of her daze. She stared at me for a moment before her face broke out into a massive smile. Not a grin, a genuinely happy smile. "Yeah… yeah, I guess it does!" She shouted back, back into her low stance. Her aura was like a loaded rifle pointed right between my eyes: it was _exhilarating_. My feet blasted off the floor as I threw myself at her, twisting my hips and swinging straight down. Exodus cut through the air and crashed into the ground, another ***BOOM*** blasting through the hall. Even though Terra dodged, I saw a small cut running down her cheek. Looking closer, Exodus was even able to slice clean through the mist in the air itself. I drew it back in and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, Terra ducking under and kicking my foot out from under me. I grunted as I crashed into the floor and quickly rolled away from her follow-up axe kick that cracked the stone right by my head. I had barely made it to my feet only to find both feet planted in my stomach, knocking the air out of me as I flipped back. I sensed danger in the air, all of it pointed directly at me. "**Exodus**!" I summoned it again, gripping it with two hands and whirling my body in a full three-sixty as fast as I could, chopping through the mist again and stopping the attack barrage.

The cut on Terra's face healed, but a new one on her stomach suddenly opened up, a bit deeper than the previous one. Neither of us could stop smiling though. Once more, we met in the center of the ring, slamming my knuckles into her own, sharp enough make my ears ring. I slipped by her right cross, aiming for a left to the liver. Quick footwork made me miss, but I always followed up, lashing out with a barrage of jabs. She weaved past all of them, leaping high and spinning rapidly. "**Air Lance!**" I was in a bad position to try and copy her redirection-technique, but it was a wide open moment to intercept. "**Dragon Smash!**" My fist crashed into her boot, another sharp shockwave shoving us away from each other. It didn't stay like that for long. She slammed her forehead into my nose, my eyes tearing up, but I didn't mind. My front-kick slipped past her Antanium coat and shot into her solar-plexus, stunning her. She didn't mind. We met each other in a hail of punches, kicks, elbows, knees, grapple-attempts, you name it. She wasn't fighting any less seriously, hell, she was fighting harder than I had ever seen her, my uppercut blasting her head skyward only for her blistering spinning hook-kick to crash into my temple. "**Consecutive Dragon!**" Right, left, hook-kick, all in an instant, but I only felt a single impact. Her face was inches from mine, another sharp elbow rattling my brain. '_She moved straight in! The second roundhouse was just a glancing blow, and my hook-kick missed entirely!_'

I felt aura stream and spiral up her fist as she drew it back, and I knew what was coming. '_I don't have enough strength to defend against it!_' I panicked.

'_**Who said you needed strength? Wouldn't that be proving her right?**_' Salem's words hit me like a bucket of cold water, and I felt calm. _'…You're right._' I breathed out gently, ignoring the roar of the crowd, ignoring Terra's shout, ignoring the pain. There was only the fight. My head was empty, my eyes tingling slightly. "**Weeping Dragon**." My arms moved on their own, gently touching her forearms to redirect her strike. The moment she was off balance, her eyes wide in surprise, my hands gripped Exodus and my body just moved. In a single moment, I had stepped past her, Exodus held straight in front of me. And just like that, the moment of clarity vanished. The waves of pain and soreness hit me, and I gasped as my legs buckled. My hold over Exodus went slack and I immediately lost a good chunk of aura, just _barely_ above the red. '_Fuck, that took way more out of me than I thought, I have to-!_'

"Winner, Riot Rose!" A burst of cheers and applause reached me, my mind whirling and confused. "Wha…?" I turned to see Terra laying flat out on the floor. "T-Terra!" I called out, stumbling to her. Stopping for a moment, I quickly let the last bits of my aura flow throughout my body, rapidly healing any leftover damage before I rushed back to her. She was looking up to the ceiling, her aura completely shattered, laughing. "Wow… I actually lost."

"Are you okay!?" I asked, frantically checking her for any injuries. If Exodus was able to cut her _through_ her Semblance, then a direct hit… nothing. The smaller gashes on her body were mostly healed up, but aside from that, I shuddered in relief when I realized that I _didn't_ rip her in half. She sat up and tried to stand, but her feet buckled and I quickly caught her. "I'm fine, just need a moment to rest."

"Auntie-! I mean, Professor Yang, can I take her over to the infirmary?"

"Go right ahead Riot. You two fought well today, I'll just email a rundown of your performance later." I nodded a thanks and quickly, slung one of Terra's arms around my shoulder and helped her walk. When I finally noticed the cheers and congratulations sent my way, I felt my face heat up and something in my chest curl. This was… new to me. "Eyes up champ," Terra's chuckle cut through, "You _won_ those cheers." Even then, it was a bit embarrassing… but nice. When we left the hall and were walking through Beacon to get to the Infirmary, something was still bothering me in the back of my mind. "H-hey, Terra…" I started.

"You haven't shattered my worldview or made me rethink my life," She laughed, reading my mind. "I still stand by what I said… but I have to admit…" She stared me right in the eye, and I suddenly realized how close her face was to mine. Her eyes were a bright, shining kind of blue. A sunlit sky in the middle of the day kind of blue. "You've validated your point. You beat me without using your raw power, and you've shown me how far your resolve will take you in crap situations. So consider myself both curious and impressed." I was silent for a bit. I wasn't really sure what to pick up from that. Terra noticed and chuckled again. "It means I'll give this self-mastery a try. I won't randomly try to beat people to near death for you guys." I sighed in relief, amusing her enough to laugh. She had a really nice laugh. "Oh wow, your aura's recovering really quickly!" Looking at my hand, I was surprised too. Aura was already spreading through me, relieving more of the aches and pains that still hung around. I guess that learning how to better control my aura allowed my recovery to increase even more. Good to know.

When we reached the infirmary, I felt Terra suddenly stumble and go slack in my arms. I damn near had a panic attack. "Terra!?"

"I-I'm fine, just…" She chuckled again, a hand going to massage her forehead, "Your punches still have my head spinning!" I quickly picked her up and gently placed her on one of the beds, placing a hand on her forehead and letting my aura flow softly to her. "Aaah… my hero," She said with a grin, looking a lot more relaxed. I struggled to fight down the raging blush on my face as she looked directly at me with that freaking _smile_ of hers. "Y-you're welcome," I managed to force out, turning away and sitting on the chair next to the bed.

"So about that sword," She started after she was done laughing at me, "It's and aura-construct, isn't it? Not just any construct, that's an Auric Phantasm."

"How do you know about that?" I asked, shocked that she figured it out.

"Simple, my dad uses one. It's a Bo-Staff that he calls Yeoui, and it can expand, extend, shrink and even bend if he wants it to."

"That's what it is!?" I squealed, catching her off guard. "I wondered for years on what kind of weapon your dad has. I had guessed for a while that it was aura-based, but for it to be a Phantasm of all things is awesome!" She laughed when I realised that I was ranting again, my mouth shutting as my embarrassment set in. "Yeah. He lost his original weapon in the Second Great War, apparently he broke it on a Goliath's head. So he thought it would be cool to try make a staff from his own aura, and that's how Yeoui was born. He says it's supposed to represent his awesome power and flexibility or something like that, it sort of makes sense considering what he can do with it." She turned to me, a curious look in her eyes. "What does your Phantasm represent?" At that, I didn't need to think too hard. I closed my eyes and opened my hand, chanting, "**Exodus Rose.**" The shape of the blade, the length, the aura required, sharpness, its _purpose_. A moment later, it was in my hand. It felt lighter than a feather, kinda surprising considering its size, but I knew that each swing carried its own very real weight. A small shock ran up my arm, like my nerves were being pinched.

"Well… when Wolfram makes his weapons, he knows every single part of it. He knows what it can do, what its purpose is. Even if the material is different, the concept is the same if you want to make a weapon. So, when I made Exodus, it was meant mean one thing. _Freedom_." The sword… my sword hummed lightly in my hands, growing warm to the touch. When her fingers brushed against the flat of the blade, there was a pleasant shiver than ran up my spine. "Freedom for who?" She asked softly. I was silent for a moment.

'**You can speak Riot,**' Salem said in my mind, equally as kind and soothing. '**Don't hide your feelings. Talk to her.**'

"…I had thought about Exodus for a while, you know?" I said after a moment. "I thought that it was supposed to be my freedom, the signal of my rebellion against my father. But… now? My father isn't my father, and some _asshole_ who started off the entire war because he had some issues with his evil ex-wife hijacked my dad's body."

'**Said evil ex-wife is right here Riot.**'

"O-oh, sorry Salem," I stuttered out, Terra snickering a bit.

'**No offense taken. Carry on.**'

"Yeah… well… Ozpin is the one I have to surpass now. Exodus will be the sword that'll grant my father freedom from Ozpin, from this _nightmare_ that the bastard put him through. In a way, it's just as selfish for me to want that." I felt Terra's hand gently place itself on top of my own. I could feel the callouses on her palms and fingers, the small grooves that felt like scars. "Riot, it's alright to be selfish sometimes. It's okay to want something, to yearn for a desire. For you to want to restore your family can be seen as selfish, but I know you Riot. You have every right to want something, especially comfort from an unbroken family. You might lack the strength to take Ozpin head on right now, but with that resolve of yours… I know that you'll get there." The small, genuine smile on her face made my heart flutter and my stomach flip. A stray thought entered my head.

'_**Oh… oh my,**_' Salem gasped, '**That is… quite personal. Are you sure about telling her that? I have no doubt that she'll more than accept that, but for you…**'

'_I trust her Salem, as a partner and friend._'

'_**It sounds like you want more than just that,**_' She replied cheekily, making me blush again.

"… My mom was the one who named me Riot. But that wasn't supposed to be my name, you know? Ozpin had taken over dad's body not long after I was born. You know what he named me?" Bile and rage bubbled in my throat, something that she didn't miss. "_Mordred_." Her eyes went wide, shock and anger quickly worming onto her face. And she was right to feel that way: the righteous King of Vale, Arthur Pendragon, ruled over a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. It all crumbled at the hands of the Knight of Treachery, a child who sought to wrench the throne from his father. In the end lies a country devastated by civil war, Arthur himself dying from his bastard-son's blade. "I… struggled with that since I turned thirteen, when I found out that _he_ placed it as my middle name. Ever since then, I wanted my father to pay for that. I know it's not his fault now, but I'll be giving Ozpin _hell_."

"Riot, why are you telling me this?" She asked, her voice again soft.

"… Terra, I… trust you. That, and I want to let you know why I want to master _myself_. It won't be now, or probably for a long time, but… I want to be able to wear that name with pride, regardless of its meaning. Let the name that was meant to slate me become the banner of heroism." I chuckled at myself, letting Exodus dissipate back into my soul. "It's a silly dream, but one I want to reach nonetheless." I felt her hands on my cheek as she turned me around. "Te-?" My words died in my throat as her lips gently pressed onto my cheek, _almost_ touching my lips. '_Soft…_' When she back away, her cheeks were just a bit pink, and her smile was big, almost beaming as her eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Riot, that's a beautiful dream," she said softly, "And… thank you for trusting me with something that precious to you. That… that really means a lot to me." My mind was swimming and my mouth flopped open and closed like a dying fish. She laughed heartily at what was probably a hilarious looking expression on my face, finally getting me to clamp my mouth shut and attempt to form a response. "Y-y-yeah! I-I mean, l-like I said, I trust you, y-y'know?"

"I noticed," She snickered.

"F-fair enough," I muttered, trying to hide my face in my hands. I felt another quick peck on my forehead and I was sure that I would die (as the happiest guy in the world) there and then. "You're adorable Riot."

"And _you're_ injured Miss Wukong," A voice sighed behind me. Professor Arc had just walked in, a lopsided grin on his face as he went up to Terra. "I swear, it's like I find one of you guys injured every week. Thank God it isn't too bad this time… seems like a concussion, blunt-force trauma. Muscle-cramping… in a _really_ straight line across your abdomen. Did you get whacked with a, electric whip or something?"

"Try aura-construct," She replied, grinning and pointing to me. His eyebrows raised, I nodded and chanted in my head, letting Exodus form in my hand. "Oh wow, an Auric Phantasm! Well-shaped, strongly developed, and room for growth. Make sure to try practicing with it active whenever you can, alright?" I nodded, the idea already having been in my head when my sword was in its conceptual stage. "You go on now, lunch should be on in a few minutes. Terra will need to rest for till later, there are some things not even aura can fix, and I don't want to risk her aggravating her head-injury." Everything he said made complete sense but… Terra noticed me hesitating and smiled, the same bright and drop-dead gorgeous smile. "I'll be fine Riot, don't worry about me too much. I promise I'll meet up with you and the team as soon as I can, alright?"

"…Okay," I surrendered. "See you later then Terra."

"Same here. And Riot?" I paused as I got up. "You won today. Remember that." I nodded, a bit giddy at the smile on her face.

'_**Goodness boy, Asuka was right: you have it quite bad for her,**_' Salem chuckled in my head. It was embarrassing, but she definitely wasn't wrong.

"Hey hotshot!" Asuka's voice broke me out of my thoughts as both her and Wolfram walked up to me. "Good match! Is Terra gonna be alright though?"

"Yeah, Uncle Jaune's taking care of her, she'll be fine by this evening, thank goodness."

"That's a relief," Wolfram sighed before his eyes lit up in excitement. "How was Exodus? You looked perfectly suited to use it, and it didn't seem to show any signs of damage at all!"

"Yeah, it was perfect. Didn't even need to worry about any kind of excessive weight either, it feels like I'm flying around with it. Though, it has a drawback." He already had a small notebook in hand. "I need to be still for a moment to concentrate and create Exodus. Plus, I can't keep it up infinitely, it only lasts for one slash before I have to pull it back in."

"I'm guessing you'll try to erase that weakness by training with it?"

"You know me so well," I chuckled. "But yeah, I want to be able to have it active indefinitely rather than relying on it in bursts."

"As a sword should be," He agreed, snapping his book shut. "I'm glad that I was able to help you finalize the creation of your weapon, it certainly gives me _several_ ideas for my own semblance."

"Yeah dude, thank you for going out of your way to help me. It's a debt that I'll repay whenever I can."

"I'm just doing my job as a leader and as your friend," He replied warmly, the formal tone in his voice slipping a bit. Asuka noticed and snickered, elbowing Wolfram in the side. "Hey now, don't get too chummy with Riot or he'll break your heart! He's got his eyes on someone else, ain't that right~?" I felt my face go red for the hundredth time this week as they both laughed teasingly. Even if it was a bit mortifying, I enjoyed it, I had to admit. "Soo, lunch is around the corner, and I don't know about you guys, but that red velvet cake looks freaking amazing. In other words, let's hurry our asses up!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry come to think about it," I agreed as we started walking down the hall. A sudden tremor ran up my spine. _'…Salem, what's up?_' I asked, slowing down a bit.

'…' The silence was a bit unnerving, but it hit me why I could feel her nervousness as soon as we turned the corner, and we all froze on the spot. "M-MOM!?" A briefcase in her hands and wearing her combat outfit, mom looked like a mess, like she had just pulled on her clothes and cloak right after waking up. "RIOT!" She dropped her case and I was instantly tackled in a flurry of rose petals. "Oh god, I heard what happened! I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to stop him sooner, I never thought that he'd outright attack you. And to think it was Ozpin…"

"I'm alright mom," I hugged her back, embracing in the familiar warmth, "I'm…" That was shattered when I remembered who exactly was fidgeting around quietly in my brain, something that my mom didn't think to tell me about. She felt me stiffen in her arms, pulling back with worry in her eyes. "Riot, what's… wrong…?" I stared at her hard, gritting my teeth.

'_**Riot…**_' Salem called out gently.

'_**SHUT UP.**_' I felt my own wrath nearly crush her, that being the only thing forcing me to relent.

"Riot, talk to me," Mom said softly, "I know that your father…"

"This isn't just about **him** anymore mom. We… no, I need to **chat** with you. **Now**."

"A-aye Riot, calm down just a bit-!" Asuka started. I could barely restrain myself. When I say barely, I mean it. "**Stay the hell out of this.**" For a split second, I let my control slip and I felt the Unlight crawl under my skin, begging me for release. It took a moment, but I grit my teeth so hard that they would've shattered without aura. "O-okay Riot," Mom agreed. "Let's talk."

**A few minutes later…**

Ozpin's office was something that I didn't like being in, normally. The atmosphere was oppressive, the man associated behind it having been ten times worse. Right now though? I couldn't care less. "Riot, what's wrong?" Mom asked softly, "Please, you know you can talk to me." I nearly lashed out at that.

"Oh, I _can_?" I spat, mom flinching at my aggression. "Come out, Salem." There was a small, sad sigh in my head before the black smog formed the world's greatest evil beside me. Mom's eyes went wide and her face turned paler, silver staring into blue. "Oh yeah, if I can talk to you, why did you fail to mention that I have the world's worst villain INSIDE OF MY GODDAMN SOUL!? No offense Salem."

"**That's a compliment boy.**"

"You're welcome then. But WHY!?" I screamed back at mom, aura exploding from my body and blowing mom's hair and cloak back. "I get why Ozpin wants me dead. I get how much of I danger I am. I get that I have a lot to learn…" I ground my teeth harder, my throat and eyes stinging with tears. "But why didn't you tell me?"

"Riot…" Mom walked towards me, "How would you have reacted if I told you-?"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT!" I roared, the floor beneath me cracking, both Salem and Mom taking a step back. "Salem already brought that up, and I've had more than enough time to think about that! Did you really think me so weak that I'd just give up because of _that_? Were all those years of lies and secrecy the result of fucking PITY!?" I sobbed, hunching over and unable to look my mother in the eye. "Didn't I work my ass to death, time and time again? Haven't I proven myself - proven to _you_ that I'm no longer a child? Why… why didn't you _trust_ me?" My body felt weaker than ever before, my legs bucking under me as I fell to my knees. Maybe resolve and self-mastery was bullshit after all. It hadn't been enough to properly beat Ozpin, it hadn't been enough to make me the strongest, and it hadn't been enough to convince my own mother that I was ready to take on my responsibilities. Maybe power was just as, if not even more important than what Terra said. A slight breeze brushed against me, and I stiffened as I felt mom embrace me tightly. I was going to push her away until I felt a sudden wet drop hit my shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Another drop, followed by two more. "I'm so sorry Riot." The dam seemed to burst for the both of us, and I hugged her back as we both cried. What felt like an eternity of tears was probably only around five minutes. "I-I'm… sorry for getting angry at you," I sniffed, looking down in shame.

"Don't be Riot. It was my duty to tell you about this, but I failed to because I let my feelings get in the way. You deserved to at least know." Mom wiped her eyes, her hands on my cheeks. "So don't think that I didn't trust you, or that you haven't earned your strength." She sighed standing and helping me up before she turned to face Salem. "Though… I know about Salem's _power_ being inherited by you. _This_ is new."

"**Indeed. I apologize for the hardship which my actions have brought upon your family,**" Salem bowed, shocking mom. "**You were the intended recipient… though I do not regret the passing of my power to Riot.**" Mom calmed down and her eyes hardened like steel.

"Why?"

"**I told you as I was dying Ruby Rose. If my methods to unite humanity fail, then I entrust the future to you and the following generations. However, humanity **_**must**_** be united for what is to come, and it will come. You will need all the help you can get, including from myself.**"

"What's to come…?" Mom's eyes went wide. "…Y-you're bluffing."

"**And since when do I ever bluff about such a thing?**" The silence was as deafening as my confusion. This is the second time she mentioned that threat which I still had no clue about. Even the mention of it made my head suddenly ache. Strangely enough, mom seemed to feel it as well, her own hand going to head in surprise. "O-ow…?"

"**Another curse placed upon me by **_**them**_**, an Info-hazard curse: should I attempt to warn anyone about what the threat is exactly, then I risk the death and/or destruction of both myself and the recipient of the information, at least until they or their kind return to Remnant. This might not have been an issue with an immortal body, but with the remnant of my soul now bound to your son…**"

"You risk killing him as well," Mom finished, a horrified look on her face.

"**A loophole or two, however: I did not tell you what the threat was, yet you know what I was trying to imply. You may feel free to tell others about it, including your son if you wished, without any further risk to anyone else. The only other reason why I was able to tell you as you defeated me was thanks to my already dying and destroyed body. Dead men tell no tales, and they are foolish for putting such a flimsy and gimmicky curse upon me.**" Mom sighed in relief, almost fainting to the floor. Salem turned to me, an eyebrow raised and a small frown on her face. "**I… don't think it would be wise for you to know just yet, despite my earlier thoughts.**"

"Why the hell not?" I asked, a bit irritated.

"**You are simply not strong enough.**" The words were like a physical blow, but… I understood. I wasn't ready to face any kind of world-ending threat. "**Not yet,**" She agreed, the frown turning to a small smile, "**And I have no doubt that you will reach that level eventually. You hold equal, if not greater potential than your mother. That is why I believe you are the perfect vessel.**" I smiled a bit and nodded. That was always the plan anyway. A faint bell went off, and my stomach growled. "Ah, I pulled you away from lunch, I'm so sorry honey!" Mom panicked. I laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"Not your fault mom, I kinda… lost my temper," I muttered. She smiled and hugged me back, going up on her toes and kissing me lightly on the forehead. "It's alright Riot, I don't blame you. I love you, okay?"

"I love you too mom," I hugged her one more time as Salem vanished with a whispering laugh. "See you soon. And good luck on running Beacon!"

"Thanks, I'll need it," She laughed nervously. Mom was still mom after all. After a wave goodbye and a quick button-press, I sighed and leaned on the wall of the elevator. '_**Are you alright?**_' Salem asked, '_**I imagine that was quite stressful for you.**_'

'_Yeah… I'm fine. I just needed to get that doubt out of my system._'

'_**A wise choice,**_' She hummed, '_**Now, make sure you eat properly, your body requires proper sustenance to maintain your growth.**_'

'_I know Salem,_' I chuckled, '_I know._'

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Not too much happening this chapter, but I feel like I'm getting a better grasp on character interaction. If not, then don't be afraid to tell me otherwise. Hope isolation is going well for everyone out there, and aside from that, peace out!**


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